Whispers In The Dark
by DamonSexatore
Summary: <html><head></head>AU/AH. When Damon and Elena met their lives were changed forever, but it soon became blatantly obvious that it was not going to be an easy journey. It's been 4 agonizingly long years since they've seen each other and now that they've finally come face to face again they must address the demons of their past that have come to haunt them.</html>
1. Prologue: A Little Ways Down the Road

**Hello everyone! This fic has been by baby for about 7 months now and I am finally posting it, so this is a BIG day for me. It's a bit different from fics I've done in the past, in a good way, and I'm hoping you'll all like it. This is going to be very angsty, and there's a long road ahead so sit down and buckle up. Reviews would be much appreciated!**

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><p><span><strong>Prologue: <strong>

**A Little Ways Down the Road**

_Nobody said it was easy_

_It's such a shame for us to part_

_Nobody said it was easy_

_No one ever said it would be this hard_

_Oh, take me back to the start._

It was a warm June evening in New York City. Elena could feel the moisture gathering behind her neck and she took a rough swipe at it. Her sweating wasn't due so much to the heat as it was her nerves. The hustle and bustle that comes with living in The Big Apple was nothing short of its usual craziness, but at this point it was really just a blur. Her surroundings were almost invisible; there was nothing on her horizon except the high-rise luxury apartments standing in front of her.

She stared up at the tall and intimidating building, then checked the address for the fifth time to make sure she was in the right place. It was a waste, she'd checked enough times to know that this was the correct address, but the more she checked the longer she could stand here and pretend everything would be okay.

She'd dealt with a lot throughout her 23 years of life, but this would prove to be the single riskiest move she would ever make, she knew that for certain, but she needed to do this. She'd spent all those years wondering what would happen when she faced him again and it simply couldn't continue. The constant wondering and questioning was killing her, and she needed to know the truth, whatever the results.

Elena paused, momentarily, and then took a deep breath and forced her body to move forward through the front doors of the lobby before she lost her nerve. The inside was just as intimidating as the outside. The walls were painted a deep crimson and the marble floor was so shiny she could see herself in it. A large balding older man was sitting behind the front desk and she used his current distraction with the newspaper to sneak past him towards the elevators. Having to explain her reason for being here to someone was the last thing she needed at the moment.

Her fingers were trembling when she pressed the floor number in the elevator and as soon as the doors closed a feeling of complete and utter dread took over her body. She'd made it here, she'd come so far, but actually being in the same building as him was paralyzing. This was the only man that Elena Gilbert had ever truly loved. They'd shared something so unique and so special, something she thought would last forever, and yet here she was all this time later talking to him for the first time in years. Suddenly there was nothing between them but secrets and complications. _He probably hates me_, she thought to herself.

She knew that she had no right to be here, but when the elevator car stopped at her desired floor, her feet carried her through the double doors and towards her destination as if they had a mind of their own. Her fight or flight mode was definitely taking over, and though her brain was leaning more towards flight than fight at the moment, she knew deep down that she needed to fight. She needed to make this right.

She stared at the apartment door as fear wracked through her body. All she had to do was turn around and fly home, pretend that this never happened, and life would go on as normal. He would get to move on as planned and she wouldn't have to deal with whatever laid behind that door.

She made her decision. She wouldn't do it. She couldn't. Could she?

Just as she was about to turn around and abandon her plan the door opened and she was met with those familiar piercing blue eyes instantly. Her heart nearly exploded out of her chest at the sight of him. She couldn't even breathe.

Time just stopped. It was like something out of a movie, it didn't even seem real. She had to blink a few times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, but he was there. In front of her. She could see him, smell him, feel him. He looked the same. He was just as perfect as she had remembered and it made her knees almost buckle. Apart of her wished that maybe quite possibly he'd lost at least some of his perfection as he aged, it would level the playing field, but this was not the case. He looked just as beautifully handsome as she remembered. Bright blue aquamarine eyes she could get lost in, flawless porcelain skin, jet black hair that lie tussled on his head just right, and a body any woman would want to climb like a tree.

"Uh, I'm going to have to call you back," he spoke into his phone before hanging up and putting it into his pocket without looking away from her. His eyes were wide with surprise and confusion. Neither of them spoke. Neither knew what to say. It had been almost 5 years.

Speechless. That was the only word to describe his current mindset. This was the girl who literally turned his life upside-down. He'd imagined this scenario so many times since she left. Sometimes she would come back and they'd instantly make up for lost time and end up in his bed, other times he would tell her off until she couldn't take it anymore and he would bask in the feelings of finally getting back at her for what she'd put him through. Now neither of those options seemed appealing.

She looked different. She was still the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, the face of an angel and the body of a goddess, but she was older. Grown up. She had filled out a little bit, her hair was wavy now, and her features had matured. She wasn't a girl anymore; she was a woman. A stunning one. Even after all this time, after everything she had done, he still found himself completely mesmerized by her.

"Hi…" she spoke softly and just the sound of her voice sent his brain into overload. Her eyes were killing him, pleading with him to give her a chance, and he knew he would end up putty in her hands if she kept looking at him like that. Those big brown eyes held capabilities no one would ever begin to understand. Seeing her like this made it seem as though no time had gone by. It felt like the past all over again.

The problem was that it wasn't the past. It was the present. The past was done, it was over, and no matter how much they both wished they could go back they couldn't. So Damon swallowed back the emotions that were slowly creeping forward and forced himself not to let it get to him. He wouldn't let her inside his head again, or his heart. He'd done that before and it ended terribly.

"I-I-uh-what are you doing here Elena?" He was confused, his voice held the tone of a very _very_ puzzled man, but she could also sense a high level of exasperation in his tone as well. While she'd known he wouldn't throw a party at her arrival, seeing him, seeing the look of disdain on his face, it made her want to break down right there in the middle of the hallway.

Just the sound of her name on his lips again made her want to cry for everything that she had lost with him when she made her choice. Seeing him again made all of the regret that she had tried to run away from hit her with the force of a steam train. Five years of therapy down the drain.

"I wanted to talk to you," she gulped nervously as she looked down at her feet before gathering every ounce of courage she had left to look back into his brilliant blue orbs and at least get out what she came here to say. "I know it's wrong of me to show up like this, especially considering the timing, but I had to."

"How do you know where I live?" He questioned her rather harshly. She cringed at the venom in his voice, but she reminded herself that he was hurt, she had hurt him and he had every right to lash out like this. Especially considering the fact that she showed up on his doorstep with no notice whatsoever the evening before his wedding. He had every right to be angry, she'd expected it. Though it didn't make it hurt any less.

"I-I mean-uh Stefan gave me the address," she rambled twisting her hands together nervously and he frowned at her. She instantly regretted giving him that piece of information considering she was one of the main reasons the brothers no longer had any sort of relationship. They may have never been very close, but she knew that the fact that they hadn't spoken in over 3 years was because of her.

"So he sent you?" Damon scoffed, rolling his eyes as he turned around to walk back into his apartment, leaving the door open behind him. Of course, this was all Stefan's fault. How could he possibly think that Elena actually came to see him on her own? Stefan couldn't get ahold of him so he sent in reinforcements. If he weren't so pissed off he would've been impressed with the balls his little brother had grown since he last saw him.

Elena took the open door as an invitation to follow him and found herself standing in the main room of one of the nicest apartments she'd ever seen. The entire back wall was made of glass and overlooked the New York skyline, a view so exquisite she almost gasped. His old apartment had always impressed her, even if it was rather cold and impersonal, but this was even more magnificent, and also even colder if it were possible.

All of the furniture was dark and modern. It looked like something out of a magazine, a quintessential bachelor pad for the elite. It was just so Damon. He was even dressed the same. Black button up, leather jacket, dark fitting jeans, and his leather boots.

As far as she could tell he hadn't changed much since she last saw him. A part of her had expected he would. He was at that age where men really start to find themselves. She'd remembered her mother telling her that it often took them longer than it took women, and that some men didn't actually become _men_ until their thirties. He was at that stage now, but he was still the same Damon he'd always been. Still the man she'd fallen head over heels in love with all those years ago.

"You know I have no interest in anything involving him so you're wasting your time," he spoke again as he poured himself a glass of bourbon.

"Stefan didn't send me," she assured him as she walked further into his home and closed the door behind her.

Her answer surprised him, not that he showed it on his face. So Stefan hadn't sent her? Now he was intrigued. He sat down on one of the long leather couches with his bourbon in his hand, looking at her inquisitively, and she stood there anxiously as she looked back at him. The tension in the air was so palpable you could probably reach out with your hand and touch it.

Apparently his thing for bourbon hadn't changed either. That was one of the things she remembered most about him, the way he always tasted a little like expensive bourbon. To this day she still got all hot and bothered when she even saw a bottle of it.

"So if Stefan didn't send you, why are you here?" He asked curiously as he looked up from his glass. "It's been over 4 years, Elena. You never called, not once. I spent a year trying to get ahold of you before I realized you didn't want anything to do with me. Now you're just here, in my apartment. I don't get it. You're the one who left me."

"I know," she nodded holding back tears. "I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought it would be better for the both of us if I left."

"That wasn't your call to make!" He shouted, making her jump as he stood up from the couch and ran a hand through his hair. He was already losing control, but that was what happened when he was near Elena. He knew he needed to get his head straight if he wanted this conversation to go remotely well. "I thought that we loved each other and you just left. You didn't even deem me worthy of a real breakup or a goodbye. You just ran away!"

"I know," she nodded again as a few stray tears left her eyes. "The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you, Damon! I swear, I thought that I was doing the right thing. I thought it was the best decision for the both of us."

"And what about now?" He asked, sauntering towards her with his eyes narrowed. "Do you still think it was for the best? Because I'm going to assume that you showing up at my door the night before my wedding means you don't think that it was."

"I-I don't know anymore," she wiped away her tears quickly; trying with everything she had not to breakdown completely. "I just-I just couldn't let you get married without telling you the truth."

"And what's the truth Elena?" He asked mockingly. He needed the power that came with talking to her this way. He needed the upper hand. "You have some big piece if information to reveal to me? Well, save it. I don't want anything from you. Not anymore."

"Damon, I haven't stopped thinking about you once," she admitted tearfully. "I did love you, I loved you so much. I still do. You're it for me. There's no one else and there never will be."

She let out a breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. That confession was partially why she needed to come here. To tell him how she really felt. It felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders. She'd gone four years refusing to admit it to anyone, and carrying it around bottled up inside was getting harder and harder. Now he knew and she was being honest, not only with him, but with herself too. Her therapist would be proud.

"You know what sucks about this?" He asked rhetorically, and she shook her head slightly as she wiped away the tears on her damp cheeks. "If you had told me that 2 years ago we would probably be happy right now. We would be together. For the longest time all I ever wanted was for you to come back to me so I could hear you say those words, but you didn't. I changed. I had to. I'm not that guy anymore, Elena. I moved on, and so should you."

"You don't think that I've tried?" She asked him between sobs. "I so badly wanted to be able to move on. I tried, I really did, but every man I ever even spoke to just reminded me of you and what I lost when I left you behind. I hated what I did, I was miserable Damon, I still am! At the time I honestly believed that I was doing the right thing, but now here we are all these years later and I love you just as much as I did before! I love you so much, Damon. I just needed you to know. I know that coming here like this sucks, and I hate that I'm putting you in this position, but I love you!"

"Well stop loving me!" He shouted.

"I can't!" She exclaimed as more tears fell from her eyes. "You act like I can just turn it off, but I can't! Don't you get it? I will always love you Damon! Just you. No one else. It's always been you and it always will be. I tried to fight it, I tried so hard, but I gave up because I just couldn't do it anymore. I'm here because I'm done trying. I'm done attempting to move on from you, it's obviously never going to happen."

"Elena, I'm getting married tomorrow!" He yelled, as he looked at her with wide eyes and the confusion on his face more than obvious. He was so unprepared for this. Apart of him wanted to give in to her, to tell her he felt the same so they could ride off into the sunset together, but he couldn't do that. Life wasn't rainbows and unicorns. Things didn't just work themselves out this way. It wasn't the way of the world. This wasn't a Nicholas Sparks book; John Hughes wasn't off to the side watching in his director's chair.

"That's why I needed to come here," she cried, looking at him almost desperately. "When I heard about the wedding I realized that I'd be losing you forever and I just couldn't let that happen, not if there was still a chance. There's more to it than you think there is Damon, and I have things that I need to tell you before you marry her."

"Elena, I don't give a shit what you want or what you have to say," he shouted, shaking his head back and forth. "When you left I was broken, and it took me years to fix what you made me become. I am finally in a stable place with my job and my fiancé and now suddenly you're here telling me that you've always loved me as though it's going to change something? News flash, it doesn't. You're too late. Snooze you loose. We had some great times and I loved you, probably more than I could ever love anyone else, but we weren't right. You left for a reason, you made that decision because you believed it to be best and now you're going to have to live with it. I'm always going to be pissed at you for how you left things, but you were right to leave. It took me years to realize it, but eventually I did. Our relationship was doomed from the start, we both knew what we were doing and we both knew it was wrong. You're clinging to what we were and I get that because I did it for a really long time, but it's never going to be that way again."

"So you feel nothing for me?" She asked sadly as more tears flowed freely down her face. She couldn't even bear the thought. Even if he was angry, which she expected from him, she'd thought that at least a small part of him had to still love her back. A love like theirs wouldn't just die out. It couldn't.

It pained him to see her like this, which surprised him a lot. He'd spent so many nights laying in bed and thinking about all the things he could do or say to hurt her the way she hurt him, but now that she was standing here crying her eyes out he hated himself for being the person to put that look on her face. He'd always hated seeing her cry, that hadn't changed.

"I could never feel nothing for you, Elena," he whispered, running a hand through his ragged hair again. "There will always be a part of me that loves you, but I just can't do this. Sometimes love just isn't enough. I'm going to get married tomorrow and move on from you for good. You should do the same. Find someone your own age that you can fall in love with, someone who actually wants the same things as you," he smiled sadly at the last part.

It was there. On the tip of her tongue. The one piece of information that could change everything, but as he spoke again it got stuck in her throat. He wanted to move on, and manipulating him with information was wrong. He deserved happiness. She'd taken it away from him once and she couldn't do it again. He didn't love her, he didn't want her, so why should she lure him back to her by telling him something he wouldn't even want to hear?

"You deserve better than me anyways, you always have. I'm not a family man and I'm married to my job. You deserve it all. The white picket fence and the family. I can't give you those things." He frowned looking down at his hands before looking into her eyes again. "Besides, when you had that pregnancy scare you told me that all you ever wanted was to be a mother, but I don't want kids, I never have. I would be a terrible father. We don't want the same things out of life Elena, we never have."

"You're right," she finally said wiping away the last of her tears. "I guess I just couldn't let you go through with it until I spoke my peace. I really do hope you're happy Damon," she forced a smile before she turned around and walked away.

The door slamming behind her gave the situation a sense of finality. As she made her way down the long hallway in his apartment building a small part of her wished that he would come after her, even if she knew that whatever chance they had just ended. He wasn't going to chase her. They wouldn't share a passionate kiss and run off together.

When she made it out of the building and down onto the street everything hit her like a freight train. He rejected her. He disappointed her. This trip was a waste of time. All it did was reassure her of everything she was most afraid of. Worst of all, she chickened out and didn't tell him the truth.

But she couldn't. She couldn't do that to him. She'd done enough damage already. He wanted to get married and live his life, and she was going to give that to him.

She dried her tears and hailed a cab to the best of her ability, it took her a few tries, but finally one of the yellow vehicles stopped for her and she hurriedly got inside, hoping to get back home as quickly as she could. She'd never been to New York, but she'd always wanted to. It's funny how when she finally made the trip it ended up being the single most heartbreaking experience of her life.

"Where to Miss?" The driver asked once she'd made herself comfortable in the backseat.

"J.F.K.," she mumbled, resting her head against the cool glass of the window. She could see all of the people walking along the sidewalk, living their own lives and she envied them. They were probably normal. They probably lived normal lives and she wanted that.

"You going on vacation or something?" The driver asked as he took off down the street, trying to make conversation.

"No, I'm going back home," she sighed, forcing her eyes shut and using every ounce of strength she had to keep the tears at bay.

"You were in the city visiting then?" He asked, smiling politely at her through the rear view mirror.

"Something like that," she mumbled, wiping away at one rebellious stray tear.

He was only trying to be nice, she knew that, but at the moment she didn't have it in her to be nice back. She'd left behind the only man she'd ever loved. The only man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

The man that fathered her child. Not that he knew it. He was a father and he had no idea. Their son was snuggled warm in his bed back in Los Angeles right now, so innocent in all of this, and it made her cry even harder.

As the driver quietly continued along the busy streets of New York City all Elena could think about was how badly she'd fucked up. Not just today, but with everything in her life. She wanted to go back. She wanted to change the outcome, but that wasn't possible.

Life is filled with choices and regrets, and now all she could do was look back on them and wonder what would've changed had she gone down a different path.

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><p><strong>Well there we are. The next chapter is going to jump back and we'll relive their journey from start to finish. And YES, we will get to the prologue and find out what happens after, eventually ;) In the mean time leave me reviews and let me know what you think.<strong>

**Until next time, my lovelies.**

**-Emily**


	2. Chapter 1: Wants & Desires

**Hi everyone! I have to apologize for how long it took me to post this. I was being so overly critical on myself and I kept making change after change, but I was never happy. I wanted it to be absolutely perfect, but I've reached the point where I need to just swallow my pride and give you the damn story so here we are! This is where their story begins, so we're jumping back roughly 5 years from the prologue to when they first met. I've decided to include dates at the beginning of each chapter so that we all know when we are and how far apart we're going etc. Also, this chapter is really long due to the fact that I needed to stuff quite a bit in at one time. Future chapters won't be this lengthy, except maybe the important ones, but I don't want to get too far ahead ;) Anyways, I hope you enjoy. Please review and click that Follow/Favorite button, it would mean so so much to me!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1:<strong>

**Wants & Dreams**

_Say you'll remember me_

_Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sun set babe_

_Red lips and rosy cheeks_

_Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams_

**August 20, 2010**

"It's so hot," Elena groaned as she hopped out of her car bright and early Friday morning in front of the Whitmore University dorms. She looked up at the large brick building and swiped a hand across her forehead, wiping off the beads of sweat that had gathered from the late August heat. Summer was definitely not her favorite time of the year.

"If we don't have working air conditioning I'm dropping out," Caroline sighed, dramatically fanning herself with her hand and Elena couldn't help but laugh.

"I just cant believe you girls are actually starting college," Liz actually felt herself begin to tear up as the heaviness of the situation hit her.

"Mom you promised you wouldn't cry," Caroline eyed her mother pointedly and Elena smiled at the irony. Caroline's always been one of the most over-emotional and dramatic people in the world. She was a theater major after all.

"I know, sweetheart," Liz smiled good-naturedly as the three made their way from the cars and to the sidewalk. It was busy, as expected for the first day back for a new year. Freshman were running around crazily with laundry baskets and cardboard boxes as parents snapped photos, and students handed out flyers advertising their clubs and causes.

Elena studied her surroundings warily. She'd been here multiple times before, and the campus was just as beautiful as she remembered. The buildings made of classic brick with grand archways and old century architecture and stunning greenery as far as the eye could see. It was like a castle, except instead of princes and princesses there were coeds.

She was ready for this, she knew she was, but that didn't stop her from being a little bit anxious about starting a completely new phase in her life and not having her family by her side like she always imagined she would.

She could picture this day so clearly in her mind, the way it was supposed to be. Her parents would've followed her down here in the SUV and helped her unload. Her mom would've set up her room just so and made sure Elena would remember to separate her colors when she did her own laundry for the first time. Her dad would give her a lecture about college boys and not walking around alone at night. But now, none if it would happen. She never realized just how much she yearned for that stereotypical life until it was taken away from her.

Elena and her parents had been discussing her future at Whitmore since she was about 7, and when she got her acceptance letter in the mail last Spring they were all so thrilled. Her mother had instantly started making plans for her dorm and her father was already discussing all of the alumni events they could attend together. It was a dream come true until the night of the accident.

"Elena sweetheart," Liz smiled, pulling her from her dark thoughts as she held an envelope out for the young brunette. "This is your key."

"Oh, thanks Liz," Elena smiled back, taking the envelope and immediately looping the key onto her chain with her car keys so she wouldn't lose it. The three walked over to their separate cars and began pulling out boxes and laundry baskets, and for the first time Elena was slightly relieved that she no longer had the majority of her belongings. Less to carry. She'd filled her Black Honda Pilot with everything she owned, which wasn't much, and the rest was filled with what Caroline couldn't fit in her Fiesta, or her mother's Explorer.

The girl had a problem with shopping, especially since her dad had left her and Liz behind and used buying her whatever she wanted as a way to make up for running off with another man. It was a tough situation, but at least their dorm room would look like a Pottery Barn Catalogue.

"This room is perfect," Caroline squealed excitedly once they found their assigned dorm and she immediately ran over to claim the bed closest to the window. Elena giggled softly as she shook her head in amusement before setting her own boxes onto the other bed.

Whitmore's one of the oldest schools in the country so naturally all of the buildings are ancient, but they're fortunate that the dorm buildings have all been renovated in the last ten years. The walls were a basic neutral light beige, there were two oak twin beds, a matching bookshelf, and they each had their own desk and dresser. The room was a decent size; it didn't feel like a closet unlike the majority of other dorm rooms. There was even a fireplace.

They spent the day unpacking and following Caroline's specific instructions for where to place everything. She'd spent the majority of the summer shopping online and buying items for their dorm, she had been one step short of going completely HGTV on the place. It was late when everything finally found its place. The sun was already beginning to set and parents were saying their tearful goodbyes as they left their children on their own for the first time. Elena couldn't help but feel a little bit left out. That was supposed to be her and her parents.

"Well I suppose this is where we part ways girls," Liz said solemnly as the day met its end. Caroline and her mom shared a moment together before she turned to Elena and gave her a warm hug.

"Thank you so much for everything Liz," she smiled gratefully at her and Liz nodded. Liz was the closest thing to a mother Elena had left. She'd told Elena that she would always have a home with her and she appreciated it more than Liz would ever know.

"Of course sweetheart," she smiled, resting a hand on Elena's shoulder. "I know your parents would be insanely proud to see you here today. This is where your father fell in love with medicine." Elena nodded forcing a smile and trying to hold back tears at the mention of her parents as she said her final goodbyes leaving the girls alone.

"This is so weird," the bubbly blonde sighed, sitting down next to Elena on the bed.

"A little bit," Elena nodded looking around the room slowly. "I think we're going to like it here though."

In all honesty Elena was happy to have a place to call her own. She'd spent part of the summer staying at Mt. Regis, a treatment center for people struggling with mental stability, or really just a crazy house, as she liked to call it. She hadn't handled the death of her parents in a way that was _healthy for her well-being_. Those were the words of her doctors, naturally. The truth of it was, she'd had an epic breakdown of monumental proportions and needed the help of trained professionals to help her find her way back to normal. No one ever liked wording it the way it really was.

From there she moved on to the Forbes' spare bedroom because she no longer had one of her own, so moving here was really just a breath of fresh air. It's something she really needed after the summer she'd had. Not to mention, it was definitely nicer than that white closet with the horribly uncomfortable metal twin bed she lived in at Mt. Regis. White walls, white ceilings, white floors, white furniture. If you weren't crazy when you were admitted the décor alone was enough to make anyone go all Girl Interrupted. This dorm room was like Versailles compared to that.

"So now that she's gone I can show you this," Caroline said excitedly yanking a flyer from her back pocket and pulling Elena from her thoughts. "Someone handed it to me while I was making a trip down to the car earlier, it's our first college party, Lena! We have to go!"

Elena looked at the yellow piece of paper warily. It was advertising a party at the Sigma Chi house later on tonight and she sighed. The old Elena would've jumped at an opportunity to party, but the current Elena didn't really have much of an interest. Oh well, if it sucked she could leave anyways right?

Well, the amount of primping Caroline had forced upon her beforehand was enough to drive her up a wall. As they walked along the tree-lined streets of Greek Row, which was immensely crowded, Elena felt her skirt continuously riding up and she cursed her best friend for forcing her to wear it. The thing fit like a second skin and was way too short to be considered clothing. They arrived at a large brick house with people running in and out, some passed out on the front lawn while another group did a keg stand under a tree.

"This is so cool," Caroline squealed as she led Elena inside. They hadn't even been there 20 minutes when Caroline ran off and Elena found herself a nice corner to take home in. She realized almost immediately that she had been correct in her assumption about her first college party. It sucked. Even a few hours in all she could think about was leaving. She had a few drinks, hoping it would loosen her up, but there were too many unfamiliar people around for her to feel comfortable enough to get drunk. Caroline didn't seem to have that problem though; she could barely walk. Elena was a little worried since she ran off again a while ago, but she was keeping her eyes peeled for her friend so they could get going soon.

"You look bored," a deep voice said from behind her and she turned to meet a stalky boy with dark blonde hair and green eyes. He was decent looking, but not really her type. Actually, these days she really didn't know if she had a type, but he seemed nice enough.

"I'm just waiting for my roommate to come back so we can head home," she responded shyly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well in the mean time I can keep you company," he offered flirtatiously. She had to resist the urge to cringe. He was way too cheesy and while she used to be rather flirtatious in high school she just wasn't that girl anymore.

"Don't feel obligated to do that I'm not much of a partier," Elena smiled courteously, hoping he would take the hint and back off, but he didn't seem to be very interested in that option.

"I'm Stefan," he smiled warmly, holding out his hand for her to shake, and she studied him for a moment. She had always prided herself on her ability to read people, it's partially why she wanted to be a psychology major, and while this guy was a little annoying at the moment he seemed perfectly nice. Even a little dorky, but there's nothing wrong with that. At best she could see them being friends.

"Elena," she finally said, reluctantly shaking back before quickly crossing her arms back over her chest again. It was something she often did during uncomfortable social situations.

"You just moved into Wellington right?" He asked, feigning nonchalance, but she could tell he already knew the answer to the question, which made her a little nervous. How the hell would he know where she lived? "Don't worry I'm not a stalker or anything I just saw you moving in there earlier because my roommate was talking to some blonde who pointed you out. I live there too," he chuckled and she relaxed slightly.

"Oh yeah, that's my roommate Caroline," Elena rolled her eyes knowing she probably already tried to convince him to ask her out. Caroline had always been extremely pushy, especially when it came to guys and dating. Now she knew why he'd come over to talk to her in the first place.

"So are you a freshman?" He asked curiously and she nodded. Though she suspected he already knew the answer to that question before he asked.

"What about you?" Elena asked mentally cursing herself for her constant need to be polite. Damn her mother and all those decent moral values she instilled in her.

"I'm a senior actually," he said taking a sip of his beer. "Although, I'm a year younger than everyone else my age. I skipped 4th grade."

"I didn't know people actually did that," she laughed and he smiled as a faint color of pink crossed his cheeks.

"My parents were really into academics," he explained with a light shrug.

"Lena there you are," Caroline stuttered, stumbling towards the two with a goofy grin on her face before Elena could respond to the boy. She breathed a sigh of relief at the interruption knowing they could finally get out of this place. "I looked for you all over the place."

"Yeah, I'm right here," she smiled, forcefully grabbing onto her arm to help her stand up. "I think it's time we call it a night, Care."

"No, but I want to stay here at the party," she whined in a squeaky voice and Elena rolled her eyes and gripped the girl's arm tighter so she could maneuver them towards the exit.

"Well it was nice meeting you Stefan, but I have to get her home," Elena smiled politely at him.

"I can help you if you want," he offered with a warm smile. "I was about to head out myself, and we do live in the same building. Besides, she looks to be pretty close to passing out."

"Uh sure," she replied reluctantly. He helped her get a better grip on Caroline so they could maneuver their way through the crowd of drunk college students and out into the cool night. She breathed in the fresh air, happy to be away from the stench of stale beer and smoke.

"I doubt she'll be able to walk it. We should get a cab," he motioned for her to follow him. She helped Caroline walk towards the street and into the backseat of the taxi with his help and a few minutes later they were driving along the quiet tree-lined streets by the school towards the dorms.

"I love college," Caroline mumbled drunkenly as she leaned her head on Elena's shoulder. "Don't you love college, Lena?"

"Yeah it's a blast," she muttered sarcastically knowing Caroline was too drunk to sense that she wasn't being serious. Stefan chuckled softly from beside them and she felt her cheeks turn red when she realized he was watching her. They sat silently during the short trip until the driver pulled up in front of their building. Stefan insisted on paying while Elena helped Caroline out onto the sidewalk. She was even more out of it than before and Elena was actually grateful for the help as Stefan aided her in getting Caroline inside.

"Well, thank you Stefan," she smiled at him once we stopped at her door. She had no intention of inviting him inside; I mean she hardly knew the guy.

"It's no problem," he responded smiling back at her. "So I'll see you around?"

"Sure," she replied before unlocking the door and shuffling Caroline inside. She guided her drunken friend towards the bed where she collapsed onto her stomach, out like a light within 30 seconds. Elena rolled her eyes as she stopped at the end of the bed to slip Caroline's shoes off before tucking her under the blankets. She went through her usual nightly routine, slipping on her pajamas, brushing her teeth, and turning out all the lights before snuggling into her own bed. It was late and she was exhausted, sleep taking her quicker than it usually did.

….

_She was surrounded by water on all sides. It was dark, and she couldn't see anything but black as she attempted to swim. She continued catapulting her body upwards through the water trying to get to the top, but no matter how high she swam she never reached the surface._

_She couldn't breathe. Everything felt heavy and she knew if she didn't breach the surface soon she would die. As she used every ounce of strength she had left to keep swimming she saw it. Light._

_Relief instantly flooded through her as she used the last of her strength to push up and through the water, only to find that she was too late. There in front of her, floating across the water, were the bodies of her family. Her mom, her dad, and Jeremy; lifelessly floating across the top of the river. _

_She screamed, but no sound came out. She wanted to help them, but she couldn't. It was too late. She tried to swim towards them, to do anything, but she couldn't move. She used every ounce of strength in her body to swim further, but she couldn't. She was rooted in place, and the water was rising until it reached her head and pulled her under again. _

_She couldn't even move. She kept telling her brain to move, but her body refused to cooperate. The water was surrounding her and she couldn't breathe, before she knew it the blackness took over._

….

Elena awoke with a gasp as she pressed her hand against her chest and looked around her dorm room with relief. It was just a dream. She'd been going through this for months. It was part of her nightly routine at this point. They didn't frighten her like they used to, but they made sleeping a hell of a lot harder. She looked over to Caroline's sleepless form in the other twin bed and wiped a bead of sweat away from her forehead. She quietly pushed her duvet back and padded over to their mini refrigerator for a bottle of water that she gulped down in record time before crawling back into bed and hoping they wouldn't come back.

Elena was up the next morning long before Caroline. She went through her usual routine of showering and getting dressed before making a cup of coffee and eating a granola bar so she wouldn't have to walk to the cafeteria. She wasn't all that hungry anyways. She had an appointment with her new doctor today and she was kind of on edge.

"Oh my God," Caroline groaned digging her head into her pillow when she finally woke up. Elena laughed as she watched her best friend flinch from the stream of sunlight that was cast across the room through one of the windows.

"Here, take this," she offered, handing Caroline a water bottle and some Aspirin. The blonde smiled gratefully and tossed the pills into her mouth immediately.

"I don't even remember getting home last night," she mumbled, scrunching her face together before drinking the majority of the water in the bottle and setting it down. "Ugh, it's like a Lockwood party all over again."

"Yeah, thank God I had some help or I would've had to leave you on a bench outside," Elena arched an eyebrow at her friend accusingly and the girl sent her a guilty smile.

"You had help?" She asked, looking at Elena puzzled. "From who?"

"Some guy named Stefan," she shrugged.

"Oh, was he hot?" She asked enthusiastically and Elena rolled her eyes because _that _was obviously the most important part of this conversation.

"He's okay looking I guess," she sighed as she thought about it more. "He's not really my type though, we just didn't clique. There's just nothing there."

"Hmm," Caroline mused looking at her closely. "Did he have light brown hair and green eyes? And was he really fit like he works out?"

"Yup," Elena replied as she grabbed her purse and made sure she had everything she would need for the day.

"I met him yesterday," Caroline smiled excitedly. "Oh my God he was so hot! I thought he would've been perfect for you. He seemed really sweet, too."

"Well if he's so hot you should date him Care," Elena responded looking at her pointedly.

"Nah I'm more into his hot roommate Jesse," she smirked with a twinkle in her eyes. "Black guy with bright green eyes, talk about some amazing genetics. I mean it doesn't get much better than that! I pointed you out to Stefan when I met them yesterday though because I thought it would be cool if you guys hit it off."

"Well we didn't," Elena replied shaking her head back and forth. "He seems nice enough, but it just wasn't there so please don't push it. Anyways, I have to get going so I can meet with my new doctor."

"Oh okay good luck," Caroline smiled encouragingly and Elena nodded before grabbing her bag and keys and heading out to her car.

She followed the orders of her GPS that brought her to the busier part of the city and pulled into a parking structure under a tall grey building. Her stomach was erupting with nervous butterflies as she took the elevator to the top floor, and she couldn't help but wonder why a therapists office would be on a top floor. Aren't there people here with height phobias? That's a thing right? Her mind was moving a mile a minute as her nerves increased.

"I'm Elena Gilbert and I'm here to see Dr. Fell," she said walking up to the young receptionist who was sitting behind a white desk.

"She's just finishing up with another client and then you can go in," she responded smiling politely and Elena nodded before turning to sit on one of the many armchairs scattered throughout the waiting room. The office was really nice, way nicer than her doctor's office back in Mystic Falls. Two of the four walls were lined with windows overlooking downtown Richmond, and the view was incredible. The walls were painted with a warm green color and all the furniture looked to be fairly expensive. She was momentarily surprised this place was even on her insurance plan.

A few more minutes went by and she watched as an older woman exited what she assumed to be Dr. Fell's office before she got the okay to go in herself.

"Elena it's so nice to finally meet you," Dr. Fell smiled warmly shaking her hand and leading Elena to a large armchair that sat opposite hers. "I hope you found my office okay."

"Yeah there was no trouble," she nodded forcing a smile. She didn't want her doctor to know how nervous she was. Dr. Fell was young for a doctor, and she was also quite beautiful and definitely dressed to impress. She was different from the therapists Elena had grown accustomed to. Something about her was comforting. She seemed like someone you could bear your soul to and they would really listen, not that Elena intended to do that, but it was a nice thought.

"So Dr. Young was telling me that you're starting college this week," Dr. Fell pulled out her clipboard to take notes. "How's it going so far? I assume you moved into your dorm and everything."

"Yeah me and my friend Caroline are roommates," Elena nodded, watching as she wrote that down. Elena had seen enough psychiatrists these past few months to know what it is they do. They write things down as you discuss them so it can go into your personal file and they'll have information to bring up at future appointments. It used to kind of bother her, but she was used to it now.

"Do you and Caroline get along?" Dr. Fell asked curiously and she nodded.

"She's been my best friend since preschool." Elena smiled when she thought about the first time Caroline shared her crayons with her. "Her and her mom even took me in when I got out of Mt. Regis, since I didn't exactly have a house to go to."

"Ah the fire," she nodded setting her pen down. "Why don't you tell me about it?"

"I-I don't really-" Elena paused and breathed in and out a few times. She hated talking about this. It made her pulse spike and her brain would get cloudy.

"It's okay we can cover that another time," Dr. Fell smiled encouragingly, sensing her discomfort, and Elena sighed in relief. "Let's just focus on the present for now. Are you excited about starting your classes? Do you know what you want to do yet?"

"I'm a psychology major," she shrugged as she picked at the hem of her tank top. "I know it probably sounds a little weird that I'm studying mental health when I had to be committed I'm so crazy, but it interests me."

"Sometimes experience is the best way to find new interests," Dr. Fell smiled at her. "I went to therapy growing up. I even ended up in the hospital once from attempted suicide, but eventually I got better and I realized that I wanted to help people in the same way that people helped me. You aren't crazy Elena; you just went through something traumatic. Trust me, PTSD affects the best of us, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I think you're the only person who sees it that way," Elena mumbled under her breath. There was a certain comfort in knowing that a woman as smart and successful as Dr. Fell also went through problems as a teenager, but Elena would never admit that out loud. For some reason getting to know her therapists on a personal level scared her and she usually left them with as little information about herself as possible, and they have never told her anything about them. Although, Dr. Fell seemed different. In a good way. Maybe she could make some real progress. Granted, she'd come a long way from where she was when she was initially taken in, but there was a lot that she still held back. It was mostly because she was afraid.

"You seem to look at yourself like you're crazy," Dr. Fell pointed out as she narrowed her eyes at the girl. "I've been around a lot of actual crazy people Elena and I can assure you they were much different from the girl sitting in front of me. So why do you think it?"

"Because I spent half of my summer in a mental hospital," Elena mumbled crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm also on meds and I have to see a psychiatrist every week. I have nightmares on a nightly basis. Normal people don't do that."

"Normal is overrated," Dr. Fell smirked raising her eyebrow at her. "Everyone has their share of problems and I can guarantee you that the majority of the people in America could benefit from a little therapy, and they haven't been through even half of what you have."

Elena smiled slightly and nodded. She felt a sense of comfort being around Dr. Fell and she decided that for the first time since the accident she might actually be on her way towards normal again, or at least as normal as she could get at this point.

* * *

><p>"I really don't want to do this," Elena groaned as she sat down in one of the wooden chairs in their dorm room while Caroline curled her hair. She was attending a party at the Chancellor's house that evening for the school's most important alumni and their families. She'd been invited along with her parents just before they died, but now she had to attend it alone.<p>

"Oh stop pouting you know you can't miss it," Caroline scolded her as she wrapped a piece of her hair around the curling iron. "Plus, you're going to look gorgeous."

"Yes, well thank you for being my stylist Ms. Forbes," Elena giggled, looking at her best friend through the mirror.

"Don't mention it," Caroline grinned, spraying more hairspray into her friend's full head of hair and arranging the last few pieces before admiring her work. She'd done her makeup earlier too and she was proud of the job she'd done. "Damn I should really charge people for makeovers. I'd make a killing."

"Yes Caroline you should have your own reality show on TLC," Elena laughed as she got up out of her chair. Caroline was letting her borrow a dress and she walked over to her twin bed, taking off her comfortable clothes to put it on.

Caroline helped her zip it up and once it was in place and she slipped on the tall heels she admired herself in the mirror. Her hair looked voluptuous and sexy, and so did her dark yet natural makeup. She had on a navy blue bandage dress that hugged every curve perfectly; it made her look older and more mature. And Caroline, being the best friend she could ever ask for, was letting Elena borrow her precious pair of crystal Jimmy Choo's.

"You look so gorgeous," Caroline jumped up and down excitedly as she admired her hard work. "Your mom would die if she saw you, and your dad would probably grab the shotgun. They'd be so happy though Lena, seriously. You'll represent them well."

"I hope so," Elena nodded swallowing back the lump in her throat. She hated these kinds of parties, but going to one alone was in another realm of torture for her. She wanted to crawl into bed, not socialize with wealthy academics.

"I know so," Caroline assured her before pulling her in for a tight hug. "I know you're not looking forward to this, but at least try and have a little fun."

"I'll try," she forced a smile before grabbing her keys and her small clutch bag. Once she had everything she needed Elena made her way out to her black SUV and towards the Chancellor's House.

She knew it would be a night filled with questions about why her mom and dad weren't in attendance or sympathetic smiles about how sad it was that they died. Either way she wasn't looking forward to it. People thought that they were being nice by bringing it up, but really it only made things worse. She did better when she wasn't thinking about it or relaying the story off for people to hear. She followed the directions, which led her to a gated community lined with ivy covered brick houses, long driveways, and street lamps that looked like they belonged in a garden at the White House.

It was a world she wasn't exactly accustom to after growing up in Mystic Falls. While her father was a doctor and made quite a bit of money they never led a lavish lifestyle. Her parents were simple people. They saved their money smartly, and with the exception of an upscale lake house they weren't the type to live lavishly. The house she grew up in was a 4-bedroom family home with a wrap around porch complete with peeling paint and a few leeks during the rainy season. It was a beautiful house, but nothing compared to these places. Not that it mattered. The place was a pile of dust now anyways. She knew that if he were here, her dad would be complaining about how unnecessary these large houses were and how their money would be much better spent doing other things. Growing up her dad's comments would annoy her. She would roll her eyes and let out exhausted sighs hoping he would get the message, but now there was nothing she wanted to hear more.

The house she stopped at was the biggest out of all the other's she'd passed. She couldn't help but gawk at it as she handed her keys to the valet. It looked like something out of a movie. She'd been to a few of the founding families old plantation houses back in Mystic Falls, and they were huge and beautiful, but nothing compared to this.

"Welcome," an older woman with dark brown hair and bright hazel-colored eyes greeted her at the front door. "My name is Esther, feel free to have a drink or grab a bite to eat."

"Thank you," Elena smiled politely as she entered through the large foyer and made her way further into the house. Everything looked overpriced and ancient. She was afraid to breathe too hard in fear of ruining some important piece of American history. It was more of a museum than a home. She never understood how people could live in places like this comfortably. It appeared as a stereotypical cocktail party. Men in finely tailored suits and women in pretty dresses all chatting about _art_ and _the economy_. The conversations she caught pieces of sounded incredibly boring. Most of them reeked of wealth and prestige. She was feeling more and more out of place by the minute. The few others she spotted close to her in age didn't look like people she would've ever associated with. She so badly wished she could've brought Caroline as a buffer.

"Excuse me," an older woman tapped her on the shoulder forcing her to turn around. "Are you Elena? Elena Gilbert?"

"Uhm yes," she forced a smile as she attempted to recognize the woman. She was older, with graying hair and wrinkles around her eyes, but she didn't look familiar.

"You look just like your mother," she smiled resting a hand on her arm. "She was my favorite student many years ago. I was just devastated to hear about the accident. I was out of the country and unable to make it to the funeral, but I'm sorry for your loss. She was a wonderful woman, and you're just the spitting image of her."

"Thank you," Elena smiled politely, but it came out as more of a grimace than anything. She knew it was wrong to feel so much distaste for someone who was only trying to be nice, but she couldn't help it.

Apparently, no one had gotten the message at all. The night continued and more and more people gave her their regards, telling her just how broken up and sorry they were, it felt like she was attending their funeral all over again, except this time she didn't know a single person and she most likely would have been judged for breaking down in tears. It was exhausting and incredibly depressing. When her most recent well-wisher became distracted she made a beeline for the nearest hallway hoping to find a vacant room where she could take a breather. The house was insanely large so after opening a few doors that only led to bathrooms and coat closets she finally found herself in what appeared to be a library. It was covered in dark colors and oak wood much like the rest of the house, but it was cozy and seemed to house just about every book ever written. There was a fire burning with large leather chairs and sofas facing it. The room was warm and inviting, but most importantly, it appeared to be empty.

She took a deep breath and leaned against the shelf, getting herself together before she began walking along the far right wall inspecting the shelves. She noticed many familiar titles, and they all appeared to be first additions. She knew her dad would've had a field day in here, and it only made her miss him more. She picked up an old leather bound copy of The Call of The Wild and smiled down at it as she ran her fingers along the binding and forced back tears. It was her father's favorite.

"You know most people don't sneak off during a party to look at a bunch of old books," a deep velvety voice rang out through the large room making her jump as she whirled around and met the face of a gorgeous man sitting in one of the large brown leather chairs.

"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered nervously as she hurried to put the book back in its place on the shelf. "I didn't realize anyone else was in here."

"No need to apologize," he shrugged, offering her a half smirk that made her heart rate increase my about a million. He was truly one of the best looking men she'd ever seen. He had bright blue eyes, pale skin, and deep black hair that brought out the features on his perfectly chiseled face like he was a piece of fine art. His dark suit was tailored to perfection, and the expression on his face was so temptingly sexy it border lined on devilish. "You're obviously in here for the same reason I am."

He'd seen her come in, but chose to stay silent as he simply observed her for a short amount of time. She was flawlessly beautiful, and the way her dress hugged her curves made something in his chest tighten. He was afraid to admit it even to himself, but she was easily one of the most stunning women he'd ever seen. Even moreso than his fiancé. And while beautiful she was also young and emulated kindness and innocence. But her eyes were what caught his attention, and not because of their beautiful shape or the fact that they were quite possibly the most striking brown eyes he'd ever seen, but they were hollow. Empty. He knew from that very moment, that first millisecond that he caught her stare; this girl had experienced a great loss.

"So I take it you weren't enjoying the party either," he commented from his seat and she blushed as she nervously tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. He could sense her discomfort, and it confused him even further. She was easily the prettiest girl he'd ever come across, and yet she acted like she was the ugly girl at the dance. She didn't see herself for what she really was and it made a piece of his heart ache. Girls this beautiful should know how beautiful they really are, not stumble over their words and blush left and right. "Not much for celebrating?"

"Something like that," she shrugged taking a step closer to him. "You?"

"Well let's be honest this party totally sucks," he grinned as he held his bourbon up to his lips and she giggled quietly as she nodded in agreement. He liked the sound of her laugh; it was contagious, even if he knew it was slightly rehearsed. He wanted to hear nothing but that sound for the rest of his existence. "So what's a girl like you doing here anyways? You look a little young to be on staff and something tells me you aren't a benefactor or alumni. Why come and put yourself through this torture?"

"I'm not, but my parents are and I'm here for them," she told him uneasily as she took a seat in the chair across from him. Her heels were beginning to make her feet ache and she couldn't stand much longer before they'd scream. She prayed he wouldn't pry or ask any further questions, she was sick of talking about them. Enough people had brought it up already.

"So you're here out of obligation," he smirked knowingly and she couldn't help but crack a smile at him as she leaned her head back in the chair. His energy was infectious; it was like some sort of cord pulling at her insides. She wanted to fade into him, become apart of him, if that makes any sense. There was just something about him, aside from his gorgeous outer appearance.

"I guess that's one way of putting it," she shrugged smirking back at him. She was aiming for coy flirtation, though she had no idea what she was really doing. "But I'm obviously not the only one who's hiding, you're in here too."

"That's what happens when you're a professor," he told her with a roll of his eyes. "You get invited to obligatory social gatherings where the majority of people in attendance are at least 30 years older than you, well when you're my age at least."

"You're a professor?" She asked him slightly surprised. "But you're so..."

"Hot?" He finished for her with a waggle of his eyebrows and she giggled. He grinned proudly over his ability to make her laugh again. And yes, he was being flirtatious, which was probably wrong considering he had a fiancé at home, but he had no intentions of acting on it, even if he did want to. But it wasn't just about the fact that he wanted her, and like any man with eyes and a working dick he definitely did, but he didn't just want her in that sense. He wanted all of her. Every single piece of her existence he wanted right at his fingertips. He wanted to know why her eyes were hollow and filled with pain, and he wanted to be the person to take that pain away. He wanted to know everything about her, he wanted to make her laugh and hear it every single day, but mostly he wanted to pick up the broken pieces that seemed to take up the inside of her soul and put them back together again. He wanted a lot of things, but he wouldn't get them. It was a dream, a useless and wild one.

"I was just gonna go with young," she said, shaking her head back and forth at him. She could tell he was cocky as hell from the moment their eyes met, but it made him even more attractive somehow. He was so sure of himself and so confident in everything he did and said, as though every move he made was calculated ahead of time. "It's just, I don't know, aren't most college professors scruffy old men with beards and patches on their tweed jackets?"

"Well sometimes I forget to shave and I suppose I could buy a tweed jacket if it were really that important to me," he chuckled and she couldn't help but smile for a second. He wanted to make it come back. "Although, there's nothing I can do about the old man thing without some kind of magical aging device. You shouldn't stereotype like that," he pointed a finger at her teasingly.

"Sorry," she laughed rolling her eyes at him as a relaxed silence settled between them. She felt strangely comfortable around him, which was weird for her. She hadn't felt comfortable around someone new since her parents died and while he did make her stomach erupt in a fit of nervous butterflies, she still enjoyed his company.

The more time he spent with her the more she intrigued him like no one ever had before. He felt a connection with her that he'd never felt with anyone before. They had chemistry, that much was obvious, and while he'd never been a believer in things like fate or love at first site he couldn't prevent the nagging part of his brain from thinking it was a possibility.

"What's your name anyways?" He asked a moment later, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Elena," she blushed, looking down at her hands anxiously as his blue eyes bored holes right into her forehead. He hated seeing her so nervous, he didn't want her to have anxiety around him, she shouldn't have. He knew with absolute certainty that she could get him on his knees, willing to do anything and everything, and women like that didn't fidget with their hands. So once again it begged the question, why did she?

"I'm Damon," he smiled back at her charismatically "So Elena, why are you at this party anyways? Are your parents really strict enough to force you into social engagements? You look a little too old to worry about being grounded."

"My parents passed away a few months ago," she admitted, gulping as soon as the words left her mouth. His expression immediately softened, but the strange thing was he didn't look at her like the wounded little bird as everyone else did. There was a brief flash of understanding written across his features, something she'd never experienced before, and suddenly her gut didn't fill with those familiar feelings of dread like it usually did when she shared the news. It was almost relief. She'd been told so many times that talking about it would be good for her, but she never believed it until now.

"I'm sorry," he frowned, looking down at his glass and immediately understanding her pain. She had lost her parents, probably fairly recently considering her current state, and he could tell it was affecting her greatly. He wanted to make that pain go away, to bring light back into her eyes. But he couldn't do that. It wasn't his place. "So they were alumni then?"

"They met here," she smiled as she thought back to the story she'd heard a thousand times. "They were in the same English class. My mom was really smart and into writing, but my dad was pre-med so he was more into the science and biology stuff. She helped him with his essays and he fell for her instantly, but it took him a while to convince her to go out with him. He pursued her for months, even when she dated another guy. My dad always loved to compare himself to Dustin Hoffman and tell me he found his very own Elaine."

"Like from _The Graduate_?" He asked looking up at her surprised. The reference was most definitely not lost on him, quite the opposite, actually.

"Yeah," she nodded shyly. "It's my favorite movie."

"Mine too," he smiled, allowing himself a moment to just get lost in her. There was something about this girl, something that pulled him in almost magnetically. He wanted to touch her, make her moan and scream. He wanted to hold her in his arms for hours, until the pain went away and he could see happiness etched across her face. He wanted a lot of things.

"So how long do these things usually last?" She asked a moment later.

"When people are done kissing the Chancellor's ass or the booze runs out," he shrugged nonchalantly. "Whichever comes first."

"I think I'm going to head out," she sighed, standing up and straightening out her dress. She had a body that anyone would kill for, and her tight-fitting dress only enhanced it to a point where his mouth suddenly went dry. And once again, this girl acted like a nervous middle school student that had just hit puberty, not the gorgeous woman that stood in front of him.

"I'll join you," he coughed as if something was stuck in his throat. He needed to be mobile if he was going to keep his composure, and he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could before they parted ways. Once they'd grabbed their coats and said their goodbyes they began their descent down the long driveway, walking side by side in relative silence. There was a charge between them, like electricity looming through the air connecting inside each of them. It was almost unsettling, especially considering the fact that they couldn't act on it. There was so much that he wanted to say, but he didn't know how to say it. He didn't even know if he should've said it. And yeah, he wanted to help her, but he also wanted a hell of a lot more than that, and yet he couldn't do that. She was young, probably too young, and he was promised to someone else.

"This is me," she breathed once they'd stopped next to her black SUV. "Uh, thank you. For walking me to my car."

"No problem," he shrugged as he smirked at her. She felt her cheeks turn pink again as she moved to unlock her door, but instead she tripped over Caroline's high-heeled shoes and fell straight for the ground until two strong arms caught her before she hit the pavement. She used his firm body for leverage, her hands pressed against his firm chest.

He wanted to groan, or yell. She was touching him and it felt so fucking good he never wanted her to stop. He wanted her to touch him forever.

"You okay?" He asked as he helped steady her, his hands resting on her arms and hers still against his chest, neither one willing to move.

"I'll be fine," she whispered, looking straight into his bright blue eyes, her skin flushed, and her heart hammering about a hundred miles an hour. Being this close to her was quickly sullying his resolve, for both of them. They were lost in each other, so lost they didn't hear the sound of anyone else approaching until a shrill laugh rang out and they both sobered, immediately backing away from each other as though they'd been stung.

She knew this man was dangerous, but not in the conventional way. He didn't scare her. He was exciting, and for the first time since she'd lost her parents she felt like anything was possible. But she knew nothing about him. He was a teacher, he was obviously much older than her, and he was sexy as hell. He could've been married with children for all she knew, though he didn't wear a ring or act like a married man, but still there was an infinite amount of reasons for her to stay away from him.

"I uh-I should be getting home," she mumbled as she held her keys in her hand shakily. She needed to go somewhere and regroup, get her wits about her.

"Me too," he nodded, taking a step back and running a hand through his hair. She liked it when he did that; she wanted to be the one to do it. This was most likely the last and only time she would ever see him though, so she decided to let it go. Hope was a useless emotion, anyways. "Goodbye Elena."

"Goodbye Damon."

* * *

><p><strong>Ahhh our love birds have met! We'll get deeper into the details in the coming chapters and the next one gives us a closer glimpse into Damon's life. Feel free to ask any questions in your reviews if you're confused or curious. I'm responding to every single review that isn't on here as a guest so don't be shy I would love to talk to all of you. Thanks for reading, please review, and I'll see you next time :)<strong>


	3. Chapter 2: Help, I've Been Paralyzed

**Chapter 2: **

**Help, I've Been Paralyzed**

_Well I'm not paralyzed but I seem to be struck by you_

_I wanna make you move because you're standing still_

_If your body matches what your eyes can do_

_You'll probably move right through me on my way to you_

_**August 22, 2010**_

It was late, way too late for him to be sitting in his office working on a fucking syllabus, but what other choice did he have? The new semester was starting the next day and he was incredibly behind. This is what he got for letting Kat convince him to stay in Rome for another week. Now he had to finish an entire summer's worth of planning in one night and he'd be lucky to sleep at all.

It didn't help that he had something on his mind, or rather someone. That girl from the party was plaguing his every thought like no one ever had before and it was making his life increasingly difficult. Sleep? Forget it. Functioning like a normal human being? Forget that too.

"What the fuck are you doing here so late?" Alaric asked, walking into Damon's office and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Well you're here too," Damon pointed out without looking up from his laptop as he typed. He didn't have the time.

"I fell asleep at my desk while I was looking over a grad student's thesis," Alaric shrugged, taking a seat on the leather couch to the right of Damon's desk. "Seriously Damon, why the hell are you working so late?"

"I let my very beautiful yet very evil fiancé convince me that it would be okay to stay in Europe a week longer than originally planned," Damon shrugged, copying and pasting his attendance policy from last semester's syllabus onto the new one. "And I had to go to that damn ass kissing fiesta last night, thanks for not showing up, by the way. Now I have to cram in an entire semester plan in one night and finish a syllabus for each course I'm teaching."

"Do you need any help?" He asked with a small smile and Damon sighed before giving in and nodding. He really didn't think he'd be able to finish if he tried this on his own, and Ric knew how complicated things got when it came to Katherine so he understood his dilemma. "What do you need me to do?"

"I still need to come up with a schedule for my Psych 101 classes so can you take a look at a calendar and divide up the lecture days by the chapters in the yellow textbook?" Damon asked hopefully. "If the chapter is super long then split it in half. This would save me a shit load of time."

"Sure," Alaric nodded, grabbing the textbook and a piece of paper to write it down on. They sat in comfortable silence for a while as Damon typed and Alaric wrote. Damon's eyes were starting to burn from staring at his computer for so long and he knew there was probably going to be millions of typos and grammatical errors, but he was past the point of caring.

Around 1 a.m. Ric made a coffee run and helped him finish everything up so they could head home around 2:30 a.m. If it hadn't been for Alaric he probably wouldn't have been able to go home at all.

"Seriously you're a life saver," Damon smiled tiredly locking up his office as they started to head home. "I owe you big time."

"How about you buy drinks this Friday?" Alaric offered and Damon chuckled before confirming that he'd buy drinks for the next two because Alaric literally just saved his ass.

Damon groggily walked towards his car and drove along the now empty streets of downtown Richmond praying that he hadn't forgotten anything. He knew he shouldn't have let Katherine convince him to stay in Europe even longer than planned. He'd told her firmly that if he was spending his entire summer there he would need to be back in time to get ready for the new semester, but that hadn't exactly worked out as planned. The woman was too manipulative for her own good.

When he got to his building he unlocked the apartment door and quietly shut it before flipping the switch to turn the lights on for the main room. Kat had long since gone to bed so he set his keys on the counter ready to join her. He groaned when he noticed the pile of dirty dishes in the sink and the stack of magazines strewn across the kitchen island, she really didn't even attempt to clean up after herself. Normally he would've washed the dirty dishes and straightened up because there's nothing he hated more than a messy house, but he was too tired to do it so he rolled his eyes before dropping his brief case on an armchair and heading towards the bedroom.

Kat was out like a light. She was nestled among the expensive linens with a black sleep mask covering her eyes and a bottle of sleeping pills open on the end table next to her. It was better than her not being here at all and out at some club instead, but then again it's a Sunday night and there probably wouldn't be any parties worth attending anyways. When they had arrived home from Europe she assured him it would be different this time, things would change. He foolishly believed her.

It seemed as though his alarm went off the second he shut his eyes, and while he knew that he did sleep for about 4 hours it felt as though he hadn't at all. He groaned and rolled out of bed and into the bathroom for a shower that woke him up enough to properly function.

He stepped into the spacious walk in closet that he shared with Katherine and frowned immediately. As it is her wardrobe took up most of the space, her shoes already needed a room of their own, but the floor was covered with discarded clothes and lingerie. It looked like a tornado had gone off. He groaned as he grabbed a dress shirt and some slacks before walking back into the bedroom where she was just getting out of bed.

"What happened in the closet?" He asked slightly annoyed. He was already grumpy from his lack of sleep, but the fact that she treated their home like a 14 year old in a rebellious stage would treat their bedroom was enough to make him crazy. Neatness was important to him, even as a child he always kept his bedroom immaculate. He was probably the only child that dusted the house and voluntarily washed dishes after every meal. Cleanliness had always been one of the few things he had complete control over and it gave him a sense of gratitude.

Katherine knew that. She just didn't care.

"I have a meeting today and I needed to find something to wear," she said innocently as she started swaying towards him in her black silk nighty. She had always known how to use her body as a tool for manipulation and as a straight red blooded male he often found it extremely difficult to resist, especially when there was lingerie involved.

"Can you just clean it at some point today please?" He asked her almost pleadingly and she rolled her eyes before nodding her head and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I promise that closet will be spotless by the time you get home," she assured him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

"Mmm good," he smiled down at her. "Are you free for lunch today? I was thinking you could come meet me and we'd go together."

"I can't my meeting with Vaughn starts at 11:30 and will probably take up the whole afternoon," she said running her hands down his chest.

"You're meeting with Vaughn?" He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Why are you still involved with that creep?"

"Damon I thought we talked about this," she sighed pulling away from him and running her fingers through her hair. "I promised I would be around more and you promised you would stop getting so angry all the time."

"Yeah that was back when I thought you weren't going to work for Vaughn anymore," he shook his head angrily. "Kat, he's a total creep, and he has a thing for you. He's bad news."

"What? So you don't trust me?" She asked indignantly.

"It's him I don't trust and you know that," he pinched the bridge of his nose. He already felt a headache coming on. They'd had this argument so many times.

"You obviously don't trust me Damon," she replied crossing her arms over her chest and at that point he lost it.

"Are you seriously accusing me of not trusting you?" He asked crossly. "Katherine all I've ever done is put my faith in you! You go out to clubs and parties, you waltz around in your underwear, you have a bunch of creepy male fans that follow your every move on Twitter and Instagram, you're constantly going out of town on your own, and I've always trusted you. This isn't about me not trusting you; it's about me wanting what's best for you. Vaughn is a bad guy and I don't think you should be involved with him. As your future husband it's my job to worry about you and your well-being, that's what I'm doing!"

"I didn't ask for you to worry about me Damon," she shouted back. "You're just jealous of him and you're taking it out on me!"

"Oh please," he scoffed, trying to resist the urge to chuckle. "Katherine I can assure you I'm not jealous of that guy."

"Oh come on Damon don't pretend like you aren't," she sneered, narrowing her eyes at him. "He's a wealthy good looking guy who works with super models all day and you're just a teacher."

"Just a teacher huh?" He mocked throwing her words back at her. "Kat I have a PhD and I'm a professor at one of the most prestigious schools in the country. I have plenty of money and I spend it on you constantly! So because I chose to go to school and actually do something that requires a brain that somehow means I'm beneath that scumbag?"

"That's not what I meant," she responded defensively and he rolled his eyes because she was a terrible liar. It's why her attempt at a career as an actress was so short lived.

"It's exactly what you meant," he replied bitterly before turning to leave.

"Damon you can't just walk out when we're talking about something important," she shouted, running after him towards the living room.

"I have to go," he said grabbing his brief case and car keys. "Us pathetic little teachers have a schedule to stick to."

With that he made a swift exit, not bothering to say any more and not wanting to hear anything else she had to say. It was the same fight they'd had hundreds of times, he didn't know why he was stupid enough to think anything would change.

* * *

><p>"Caroline hurry up we're going to be late," Elena shouted from the bedroom as she gathered all of her books for the day and made sure my bag had everything she needed so she wouldn't have to come back to the dorm between her classes.<p>

"I'm ready to go," she replied, walking out of the bathroom dressed for the day in a yellow sundress.

"Okay we have psychology, do you have your book?" Elena asked her anxiously.

"Yes mom," Caroline rolled her eyes as she tossed everything into her bag and followed Elena out the door. They both had their maps out as they walked through the warm morning sun towards the psychology building across campus.

They were both panting when they got there and were thankful to feel the air conditioning on blast when they walked through the front doors. They followed the room numbers along the first floor until they came to Lecture Hall 115 and walked inside to take their seats. The room was already about halfway full, but they found seats near the middle and both sighed in relief that they'd made it before the professor.

"Damn if the rest of the semester is going to involve that much walking I'm going to need to start going to the gym more," Caroline breathed putting her hand over her chest. "I am so out of shape without cheerleading."

"It doesn't help that it's like 500 degrees," Elena panted, fanning herself with her hand trying to cool down.

"So who's the teacher for this class anyways?" Caroline asked pulling her book out and setting it on the table in front of them.

"Uhh, D. Salvatore," Elena replied double-checking her schedule. "He had good reviews on Rate My Professor, people commented saying he was a good teacher."

"Oh, did he have the chili pepper next to his name?" She asked excitedly and Elena looked at her puzzled.

"Why would he have a chili pepper next to his name?" She asked her raising an eyebrow.

"I looked up my theater professor on there yesterday and she had a chili pepper next to her name, which on that site means that she's hot, but she's a girl so that doesn't really interest me. Did this guy have one?"

"Oh, I honestly wasn't paying attention to that," Elena shrugged, earning a disappointed frown from her friend.

"Well it probably would've stuck out if there was so he's probably some gross pervy old guy," she rolled her eyes and Elena shook her head at Caroline's ludicrous priorities.

Damon barely made it into the lecture hall before 9 a.m. and he silently thanked God that he'd made it on time. As he stepped through the doorway and looked up at his class for the semester he felt something in his chest almost constrict as he looked up and saw _her_.

Fuck. Was it possible for looking at something to actually paralyze you? Because he sure had just experienced it.

She was looking down at something on her phone and he felt his Adam's apple bob at the sight of her, she was just as gorgeous as he remembered, but even worse she was in his class. She was officially one of his students and he'd spent the last 24 hours fantasizing about her. It was wrong on so many levels. How the hell was he supposed to teach a class when she would be sitting there the whole time? He felt something for her, that was obvious to him, but he hadn't expected anything like this to happen.

As he made his way over to the desk he purposely moved his eyes away from her before turning to face the white board and write down the agenda for the day. While Elena had never strayed far from his mind since that evening they'd spoken he had no intentions of actually acting on whatever it was he felt for her, and now that she was in his class it was even more of a problem. He couldn't go there. He wouldn't go there. Nope.

Elena hadn't noticed the teacher's entrance until his back was facing the white board. When he turned around she almost gasped. It was _him_. The man from the party. Damon.

His navy blue button up shirt was rolled up past his forearms showing off part of his muscular arms and a small tattoo that looked like Roman Numerals, and he looked just as perfect as he had the night she met him. Her cheeks burned, turning a deep shade of pink and she wiggled in her seat.

It was the first day of class and she already had a crush on her professor. Talk about dysfunctional.

"Before anything I'm going to read off the names that are registered so we can see who showed and who didn't and then all my waitlisted students can see if they got their spots," he said in a deep velvety voice that had every girl in the room swooning. He was just as seductive and beautiful as she remembered. It wasn't fair for someone as attractive and perfect as him to be a teacher.

As he made his way down the list of names he spotted hers and looked up to where she was sitting, an anxious smile on her face. When their eyes met they both felt as if electricity was surging through their bodies and Elena wanted to drown in those blue orbs of his more than she wanted anything in the world.

"Uh Gilbert, Elena," he read out loud she raised her hand coyly. He'd never experienced anything like this before, much less with a student. She was flawless, the single most beautiful girl he had ever seen, but he couldn't allow it to effect him. He smiled politely at her before moving on to the next name, but she never strayed from his mind once. As soon as he finished with the roster he pulled a stack of papers out of his briefcase and handed them to the person sitting in front to pass back. The butterflies in his stomach were running wild the entire time. It was immensely unsettling. He hadn't been this nervous around a girl since high school. And he was never nervous around his students.

"My name is Damon Salvatore," he smirked in a way that could only be described as devilish and she felt her heart speed up even more. "You can call me Dr. Salvatore, Professor Salvatore, or Mr. Salvatore. It's up to you. I'm not one of those pretentious PhD holders who insists on being called by my title all the time so don't worry about that." The class chuckled slightly and he smirked almost proudly. Teaching had always come easy to him. "Anyways, I have a psychology degree from Princeton and a PhD in behavioral psychology from here. This is my third year on staff as a professor here, but I like to think being younger makes it easier for me to relate to all of you. I was a Grad Student not too long ago so I know what it's like."

As he described the course and what they'd be focusing on this semester he refused to meet her eyes again in fear of what would happen if he did. He looked at the numerous funny looking male students and the girl in the back row who was clearly same sex oriented, anywhere but Elena Gilbert.

She couldn't seem to calm herself down enough to even focus on what he was saying, but she made an attempt to take vigorous notes even if she hardly registered with what she was writing.

"So how many of you are psychology majors?" He asked curiously and she forced herself to raise her slender arm in the air timidly. His eyes were drawn back to her immediately and once again the connection between them surged through the air.

He briefly wondered if it would be obvious to the other students, but he didn't think anyone noticed. She gulped nervously when she realized no one else had raised their hand and she wanted to curl up in a ball and roll away, but then he smirked at her. Directly at her because he just couldn't help himself and she wanted to melt.

"Damn he is hot," Caroline whispered as he started discussing his grading policies and Elena nodded nervously. Hot would be an understatement. When he finally dismissed them she felt her body sag in relief. Sitting in a classroom with this beautiful man and having to keep her composure was one of the most difficult things she'd ever done in her life.

Damon couldn't help but watch her as she stood up from her seat and her blonde friend ran ahead of her, most likely rushing to another class, but Elena took her time. She turned to walk towards the bottom row to exit the classroom and he wanted to groan. Her long legs were seriously torturous to look at, just as he'd remembered. It was even worse when she dawned a pair of dangerously tiny shorts.

She was trying to stuff her notebook into her black messenger bag, but it was not cooperating whatsoever and as she reached the bottom part of the classroom she dropped it. She let out a frustrated sigh leaning down to pick it up, but he beat her to it.

"Uh thank you," she said, flushing bright pink and hurriedly taking the notebook from him. She was incredibly flustered and he could sense her nervousness from a mile away. He made her nervous, he couldn't decide if this was good or bad.

"Ms. Gilbert, right?" He asked purposely furrowing his eyebrows before waggling them and she giggled. He was going straight to Hell, he knew that. "So you're a psychology major huh?"

"Uh yeah," she nodded biting her lip nervously. "I hadn't realized you taught this class."

"Well we didn't exchange last names," he shrugged nonchalantly and she nodded.

"Weird coincidence," she mumbled and he nodded in agreement as an uncomfortable silence settled between them. "Uh, I should get to my next class. It was nice seeing you again Damon-er, I mean, Mr. Salvatore."

"You too," he smiled as he watched her exit his classroom.

This was very bad. When he made the decision to be a teacher he never saw himself as the type of guy to be attracted to one of his students. He had a beautiful fiancé and he wasn't a creep, so why was Elena Gilbert making his heart feel like it was going to beat out of his chest and his pants suddenly feel a little too tight around the crotch?

He knew when he met her that she was young, but now he realized she couldn't be any older than 18. Even looking at her the wrong way could land him in a deep pile of shit. Granted, it wasn't illegal, well at least he hoped so because there was a very real chance she could be underage for at least a few more months. No, no way. A girl that stunning could not be under the age of 18, God was not that cruel.

Either way, he was her professor and any kind of personal relationship with a student was forbidden. And making a student feel like you wanted one? Even worse. This was the generation of sexual harassment lawsuits and calling lawyers for anything and everything, not that he thought Elena was going to do that, but still. It was risky. He had _flirted_ with her, and she knew it too. She had to, and he had thought that maybe quite possibly she had flirted back, but now he wasn't so sure.

"Hey Mr. Salvatore," a familiar female voice called, snapping him from his extremely inappropriate thoughts. He looked up and smiled when he saw Bonnie Bennett, one of his favorite old students. Her previously long hair had been cut into a short stylish bob and it made her look older. One of his favorite things about this job had been watching his students grow, it was amazing to see some of them mature so much compared to when they came to him as freshman. Bonnie was in the first class he'd ever taught back when he was still just a T.A. in Grad School, and now she was starting Grad School herself. He felt like a proud parent sometimes, but that was just the kind of professor he was.

"Bonnie," he greeted her with a warm smile as he sat on the edge of his desk and she walked towards him. "How's your first official day as a Grad student?"

"It's fine I suppose," she shrugged looking at him nervously. "So I kind of have a favor to ask."

"Ah so you aren't just here to pay a visit to your favorite professor?" He teased and she rolled her eyes as she stood up a little straighter. "Well I'm always willing to lend a helping hand, what's up?"

"Well Professor Shepard just announced her retirement and resigned as the faculty advisor for the psychology club, and I was kind of wondering if you would be willing to take her place?" She was nervous because she didn't think he'd want to do it, which was slightly correct. It's kind of a time consuming job, but Bonnie also knew that she could count on him to step up if they really needed it, it's why she'd always liked him so much. He was one of the few teachers she'd ever had that truly cared about his students and she appreciated that.

"Sure," he nodded and she sighed in relief as she reached into her bag to get the paperwork. He didn't particularly lust after job, but he couldn't deny a student in need. He was in the psychology club as a student here and he wouldn't let it get dropped just because he didn't feel like spending a few extra hours handling it.

"Thank you! I just need you to fill these out by the end of the day," she handed him a short stack of white papers that he flipped through rather quickly. "I can come by later and pick them up from your office if that's okay."

"Uh yeah," he nodded setting the papers down on the desk. "I'll be there for my normal office hours from 4-6 so just stop by whenever."

"Seriously, thank you so much for doing this," she smiled happily. "Anyways, I have to get to class, but I owe you big time Mr. Salvatore."

"It's fine Bonnie I don't mind," he shrugged smiling warmly and she nodded before waving goodbye and exiting the classroom just as his Psych 225 class began wandering into the room.

It was a ridiculously long day and when he sat in his office later that afternoon writing a prompt for the first paper of the semester Alaric strolled in and plopped down onto his couch with a thud.

"Damn it I am so tired," he groaned, running his fingers through his now unkempt hair. "I only have one freshman class this semester and I'm already on the verge of pulling my hair out, I don't get how you teach 101 every semester."

"I actually like freshman," Damon chuckled ignoring the part of his mind that wandered to Elena Gilbert. Yeah, he definitely liked freshman. "There's something endearing about them, you're just a bitter old man."

"You know I'm only a few years older than you," Alaric rolled his eyes and Damon chuckled again. Him and Alaric went to Grad School at the same time, but Ric started college later than the average student so he was a couple years older and Damon reminded him of it constantly.

"So how are you and the lovely doctor doing?" Damon asked as he closed his laptop and moved to put it in his bag.

Alaric had been with Meredith Fell for almost 6 years now and they were married last Spring. Damon had introduced them. Him and Meredith grew up together attending the same prep school, and then they both ended up at Princeton for their undergrads, and Whitmore for his PhD and her Medical degree. He'd never thought of her as more than a friend, they were like brother and sister, but her and Ric had taken to each other immediately.

"We're good I guess," Alaric shrugged as he stifled a yawn. "She's always busy with work and all that shit, but she was talking about you last night. She wants you to come by for dinner soon and I promised I'd run it by you today, that's why I came by. You busy tomorrow night?"

"Not that I know of," Damon responded zipping up his computer bag. "I'm assuming she doesn't want Kat coming?" Damon snickered shaking his head. Meredith and Katherine had never gotten along well. She always said that Kat wasn't right for him; she often referred to her as an "evil whore." At times even Damon knew she was right.

"She said she'd let you make that call," Alaric raised an eyebrow at him and Damon shook his head again.

"I wont bring her along," he nodded gesturing for Alaric to get up off his couch so he could lock up. "I don't really want to play referee."

"Well, come by around 7," Alaric waved goodbye as they parted ways and Damon walked down to his black Range Rover parked in it's usual spot in the staff parking lot before taking off towards home.

Just as he'd predicted the apartment was empty when he arrived so he tossed his keys on the counter and headed towards the bedroom to change. The sink was still full of dirty dishes and the closet still looked like a clothing grenade had gone off. It was moments like these where Damon wondered why the hell he continued putting up with things like this. Even he had to admit that his fiancé wasn't making him as happy as she once did, and with these developing feelings for one of his students Damon wondered what the hell was going on with his life lately.

* * *

><p><strong>Well there it is, Elena is one of his students. I'm sure a lot of you saw this coming, and those of you that predicted get a bright gold star! And as for Katherine, she is Damon's fiancé, but clearly they aren't exactly a match made in heaven so as we move further we'll see what happens there as well as what happens between our main couple. Thanks again for the support. Please favoritefollow and review! It would mean so much, and it's a great way for me to keep in contact with all of you as we progress, and I am responding to all reviews. So spark up a convo or ask me questions!**

**Until next time :)**


	4. Chapter 3: Temptation

**Hey guys! I'm sorry about the long wait for this chapter. My life has been absolutely insane lately and when I had time to update the other night my computer was not cooperating whatsoever. Anyways, I am now sick with the cold from hell and huddled in my bed wrapped in like 12 blankets, but still posting this chapter so you don't have to wait any longer, and all this medicine is making it hard to sleep lol so I was like meh why not update my fic. Anyways, thank you for all the wonderful reviews you've left and thank you to all of you that have Favorited/Followed. I'm so thankful for your interest in this story, I've worked really hard on it and it's nice to know people are enjoying it. Please continue to let me know what you think and ask questions, I'm happy to talk to you guys!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3:<strong>

**Temptation**

_I'm getting caught up in him but I don't wanna_

_I'm getting off track and I can't control a thing_

_I'm telling myself it's not a good idea_

_But the more I hesitate the more I fall for him_

_I'm tryin' to erase his face from my memory_

**August 26, 2010**

"Elena pleaaaaaase," Caroline pouted a she looked up at her friend pleadingly. She needed Elena to agree to her request or else everything would be ruined!

"Caroline I told you already that I'm not interested in Stefan," Elena let out an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes as she sat down on her bed and laced up her converse.

"And I completely respect that I promise," Caroline whined as she paced across the room. "It's just that I think I might really like Jesse and when I asked him if he was busy tonight he told me he had plans with Stefan, so I suggested we all go out together and he agreed! This is my chance at our first date Elena; please just do this for me? I'll owe you big time!"

"Care, you don't even know Jesse," Elena told her pointedly. "You think he's hot, that doesn't exactly equal soul mates."

"How am I supposed to know if I don't at least try?" Caroline pouted her lips and Elena felt her resolve weaken.

"Ugh fine," Elena finally relented and Caroline squealed in delight as she pulled her best friend in for a hug. "Just don't expect it to happen again, this is it. I don't like Stefan as anything more than a friend and I don't want him getting the wrong idea!"

"I promise I will only plant strictly platonic thoughts into his head," she smiled and Elena rolled her eyes as she grabbed her school bag.

"Well, I have to get to sociology," Elena announced tossing her keys into her bag. "So what time is this date happening then?"

"We're meeting them downstairs at 7 sharp," Caroline grinned excitedly. "I made reservations at this amazing new restaurant in town. When you get back we'll figure out what to wear!"

"Fine," Elena sighed waving goodbye to her friend and exiting their shared dorm room. She was definitely not looking forward to this so-called double date. She'd run into Stefan a few times since the night of the party and every time she was only further reminded of how little chemistry they had. He was one of the nicest guys she'd ever met, but she couldn't help the fact that there just wasn't any kind of spark between them.

As she made her trek across campus towards her Thursday morning Sociology class she decided to take her recently discovered detour and cut through the psychology building to get to where she needed to go a little quicker, and with the added bonus of part of her walk including an air conditioned building.

Today would end the last day of Elena's very first week of college and she had to admit that she enjoyed it. Her classes were going to be difficult, but they were interesting and she knew she would be able to manage it. She'd now familiarized herself with the campus enough to know her way around too, and she was happy to no longer carry around her map that screamed _I'm a lost freshman_ to anyone that saw her holding it. She felt at home here, like she belonged, and it was really nice to feel like that again. She hadn't felt it since she lost her parents, but when she was here honoring their wishes it was almost as though she could feel their presence.

As she walked down the long hallway of the first floor of the now familiar psychology building towards the opposite exit door she looked down at her phone momentarily until she collided with a hard body causing a pile of papers to fall into a massive heap on the ground.

"I'm so sorry," she muttered as she looked up and her eyes grew wide when she saw Damon looking down at her with a rather amused expression on his flawless face. Those blue eyes made her want to melt into a puddle of goo right there on the floor.

"It's fine," he chuckled at her reddened cheeks as he bent down to clean up his papers and she immediately did the same hoping to at least help him out a little. He hated to admit it because he knew it was wrong, but he rather enjoyed running into her on a day where he didn't even have her class. She looked just as stunning today as she did the other two days he saw her this week, no surprise there. This girl was quickly becoming all he ever thought about, and yes that made him feel extremely guilty, but he really couldn't help it.

"That'll teach me to text and walk," she smiled nervously, hoping to ease some of the tension and he chuckled again as she handed him the papers she had collected from the floor and they both stood up.

"I was distracted too don't worry about it Elena," he smiled politely and she felt her heart rate speed up when he said her name. This was the third time she'd acted like a total klutz in front of him. _Way to go Elena_, she thought.

"I should get to class," Elena mumbled uncertainly waving goodbye before making a beeline for the door. He watched as she walked away and felt something inside of him flutter slightly, butterflies? No, it couldn't be that. Damon Salvatore did _not_ get butterflies.

He had to force himself out of the trance the young girl had left him in before remembering that he had been on his way to teach a class. As he walked the remainder of the way to his classroom he tried exceptionally hard not to think about his student, whom he had been thinking about way too much lately, but that proved to be an impossible task. Elena Gilbert had officially taken over his mind.

Unbeknownst to him she was having just as difficult a time regarding her professor. As she entered her sociology class just in time and took her seat she had to mentally chastise herself for thinking of him in such an inappropriate way again. After the party he became the one thing constantly on her mind and it scared the hell out of her. She found herself dreaming about him at night and thinking about him all day.

She even did a Google search on him, which was a terrible idea for multiple reasons. While she found numerous published psychology articles that only further proved how brilliant he was, she knew it was extremely creepy and stalkerish behavior, therefore making her feel like some kind of freaky teenager obsessed with their teacher and ending up in a live version of _Don't Stand So Close To Me_.

Secondly, she was far from pleased with what she found. He was engaged to a woman who looked like some kind of super model and she realized how ludicrous her little crush actually was. There were photos of him and the perfect brunette at fancy parties, looking like they belonged on the cover of people. This man was her professor, and he's engaged to be married to one of the most gorgeous women in the world. She was barely a blip on his radar. Some average looking freshman in one of his classes, nothing more than that.

Still, she couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that there was some sort of connection between them. They had really hit it off that night at the Chancellor's house. The chemistry between them was always there, surging through the air whenever they were in the same room. It felt like electricity, like some sort of charge. Her experience with boys was rather limited. She'd had a few boyfriends in high school, but they were hardly serious relationships and she'd never been in love. She'd certainly never experience a connection like this one before.

Her longest relationship was with her childhood best friend Matt Donovan, but she eventually realized that they were better suited as friends. She'd hooked up with a few of the other football players at parties now and then throughout high school, but Matt was the only boy she'd ever had sex with, and it was hardly a passionate romp between the sheets. Either way, her experience was extremely limited.

Combining her lack of experience with the fact that the man she had been fantasizing about was already about to be married to a woman who no doubt knew how to please him thoroughly made Elena more upset than she cared to admit. It was all so ridiculous because she knew she had no right to be effected by it. Damon Salvatore was her professor who was at least 8 years older than her, he had a fiancé, and the idea of him ever being remotely interested in her was preposterous.

She briefly wondered if this infatuation was just another symptom of her numerous mental problems and she had considered discussing it with Dr. Fell, but she was much too embarrassed to go through with it when they met yesterday afternoon. She knew she needed to simply move on, but that was proving to be a rather difficult task. It was frustrating, being this caught up in a man she knew she could never have.

As the rest of the day passed by rather quickly Elena began dreading her evening more and more. Going on a double date with a guy she had no interest in actually dating was definitely not her ideal Thursday night, but then again it had been a while since she'd done anything normal and she knew backing out would only put her another step back. She needed to put herself out there and enjoy life again, and even if she had no interest in Stefan she could still find a way to enjoy herself if she just pulled her head out of her ass, she knew that much. The feeling sorry for herself stage needed to end.

"Caroline I don't know about this," Elena frowned as she stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror hanging on the wall of their dorm room later that evening. Caroline had dressed her in a grey high-waisted loose flowing mini skirt with a black crop top that ended about an inch above the skirt's hem showing off just a peek of her flat tanned stomach. She also had on Caroline's black heels, and while the outfit was amazing, she felt like it was too much if she wanted to successfully convince Stefan that this wasn't a date. If this were a boy she actually liked she would've let Caroline have her way, but the last thing she wanted was for Stefan to get the wrong idea and this outfit definitely did that.

"Elena you look gorgeous please don't change," Caroline pleaded as she put on a coat of lip-gloss. "Stefan isn't going to get the wrong idea just because you dressed cute, and if he does I will help you set him straight."

"Okay I guess," she sighed turning away from the mirror to look at her friend. Caroline had on a short black dress with a cut out under the bust along with a tall pair of nude heels and some bright colored accessories and Elena realized that in comparison to Caroline she didn't look nearly as over the top. Caroline definitely looked like she was going on a date.

Elena had left her hair straight and didn't do anything extra with her makeup while Caroline curled her hair and added a smoky eye that she'd perfected with the help of about a dozen YouTube tutorials. Plus, Elena had to admit it was nice putting a little extra effort into her outfit; it had been a while since she did, with the exception of the Chancellor's party, but that was a much stuffier event.

Dr. Fell had encouraged her to put herself out there and make new friends so she could enjoy her college experience, and that's exactly what tonight was. Even if it turned out to be a bust at least it would earn her some brownie points with her therapist.

"Okay let's go," Caroline grinned, grabbing her pink and orange clutch off the bed and looping her arm through Elena's so they could walk down to meet the boys. They were standing side by side both dressed in basic V-necks and jeans and Caroline couldn't help but check out Stefan a little bit as they walked into the lobby. She still couldn't understand why Elena wasn't interested in him. He was gorgeous.

"You guys look nice," Stefan complimented them both and Caroline blushed before turning her attention to Jesse who smiled politely at her before suggesting that they all get going.

The drive to the restaurant was awkward. Elena and Stefan sat in the backseat in an uncomfortable silence all while Caroline yapped away in the front seat trying to start a conversation with Jesse, who seemed less than interested in what she had to say. All in all it was shaping up to be one of the worst double dates ever.

* * *

><p>"You look beat," Katherine commented as she watched Damon collapse onto their bed Thursday evening.<p>

"I am beat," he muttered into his pillow and she rolled her eyes. She knew he hadn't slept most of the week, she could hear him roaming around the apartment in the middle of the night, and she could see how exhausted he was just by looking at his face. It definitely made him a little less pleasing to the eye. His eyes were hollow with dark circles around them and he was always frowning.

"I know there's something going on with you," she sighed as she stood above him at the side of the bed. "You haven't touched me since we got back from Europe and you're not sleeping so what's the deal Damon? You haven't exactly been enjoyable company lately, you know."

"Glad to hear you're so concerned about my well-being kitty Kat," Damon deadpanned as he dug his face deeper into the pillow.

"Look, you know I don't do the whole concerned girlfriend bit very well, but I'm trying my best," she crossed her arms over her chest as he peered up at her with one eye unsure of how to respond.

"I'm just stressed about work and all that shit," he lied burying his face back into the pillow. He couldn't exactly tell her that his inability to fall asleep and lack of interest in sex was because he'd met another girl, who also happened to be one of his students. That wouldn't exactly go over well, and in all honesty he had hoped that he could just move on from the teenager and get back to his life, but that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

No matter what he did she just couldn't get her out of his head. He saw her everywhere, even when she wasn't actually there for him to see. Every time a tall brunette was in his vicinity his heart would start to speed up until he realized it wasn't actually her. When they had their run in this morning in the hallway he'd just about peed himself. All in all this entire mess was basically tearing his life apart.

"Well we're going out tonight," she replied curtly. "So get changed because I got us reservations at that fabulous new restaurant down the street. It's supposed to be a Richmond hot spot or something so I figured we could go check it out for dinner."

"Kat, I really would just rather stay in and catch up on some sleep," he muttered tiredly. "Can't we go tomorrow night?"

"No because I already made the reservation Damon," she rolled her eyes as she shook his shoulder roughly trying to get him out of bed and he groaned. "Look, just change your shirt so we can get going."

"Kat, why don't you call one of your friends to go with you?" He suggested hopefully and she scowled as she walked into their shared closet to grab a fresh black button up and tossed it at him.

"I just wanted to go out and have a nice night with my fiancé," she pouted sitting down next to him on the edge of the bed. "Please Damon, we don't have to stay late and then you can come home and sleep. You don't have any classes tomorrow so you can sleep in right?"

"I have to go to a meeting for the psychology club tomorrow," Damon sighed, forcing himself off the bed to change his shirt.

"Why would you go to a meeting for some club?" Katherine asked, scrunching her nose up as he unbuttoned his shirt to put on the fresh one.

"Because they needed a new faculty advisor and I ended up with the job," Damon shrugged as he buttoned up the black dress shirt. "One of my old students asked me to do it and she looked desperate, I felt like I would be a total dick if I said no so I just accepted the offer."

"You know you don't have to do things just because you're too much of a pushover to say no," Katherine said pointedly. "You already give so much to that job and now you're voluntarily doing even more? Do you even get paid for this?"

"It's voluntary aka I don't get paid," Damon rolled his eyes at Katherine's senselessness yet again. "And I'm not a pushover, but if I didn't accept the position they could've lost the club and I couldn't let that happen. I don't even get why you care so much, I have plenty of money in my trust fund and you work a lot of hours too."

"Forget it I was just making a point," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," he nodded following her out of the bedroom.

"So I met with one of Vaughn's colleagues today and he's setting up a photo shoot next week to update my portfolio," Katherine grinned proudly as they exited the apartment. "He's trying to get me into Victoria's Secret's new line, but he thinks we should take some new photos since I haven't worked for them in a few years."

"That sounds great," Damon commented only half listening as she continued on about work. One thing Katherine loved more than anything in the world was talking about herself. She'd been modeling since she was a teenager and she was rather successful for a while, but over the last few years she'd been getting less offers. She blamed their move to Virginia on that because she was further away from the city where all the big fashion companies are, but it's no secret that she was just getting older. She wasn't exactly in her prime years for modeling anymore.

As they pulled up to the restaurant Damon handed his keys to the valet and led Katherine in through the front doors of the crowded restaurant with a quiet groan. It was one of those places that picked up into a club-like setting in the evening. This was not the type of place he wanted to be right now.

"Reservation for two under Katherine Pierce," Kat spoke to the hostess confidently as she flipped back a piece of her curled hair.

"Okay, it'll be about 10 minutes until your table is ready," the hostess smiled politely and Damon scowled. Isn't the point of reservations not having to wait?

"Oh come on, stop pouting," Katherine rolled her eyes as they moved to stand in a corner and wait to be seated.

"I'm not pouting," Damon said defensively and Katherine rolled her eyes again as she let her eyes wander around the crowded restaurant. She stopped when she spotted a familiar face and had to do a double take before tapping Damon to get his attention.

"Isn't that Stefan?" She asked him pointing at Damon's brother, but his eyes widened when he noticed not his brother, but the girl sitting next to him. Elena Gilbert. She looked stunning in her short skirt and tank top. Showing just enough skin to be sexy, but not too much to the point where she looked slutty. "Hello, earth to Damon," Katherine waved her hand in front of his face.

"Uh yeah, looks like he's on a date or something," he commented looking over at the couple. He felt something uncomfortable churning in the pit of his stomach as he watched his brother chat with Elena as though they'd known each other for years. Jealousy? No. Hell no. It's just; Elena could do so much better than his pathetic little brother who Damon suspected to still be a virgin at the age of 21. Elena deserved someone who could bring out her wild side that he just knew was hidden under that girl next door persona she always carried, and Stefan definitely wouldn't be capable of doing that.

"We should say hello," Katherine smiled, pulling Damon along with her towards his brother and he groaned. Katherine always had a soft spot for Stefan and it annoyed him to no end. Him and his brother were far from Wally and the Beav.

"Kat, it's good to see you," Stefan smiled politely as he got up to hug Katherine and Damon was pulled back to reality. He purposely didn't dart his eyes in the direction of Elena Gilbert considering the fact that his very perceptive fiancé was standing right next to him. If Katherine caught on to the chemistry between them, or even caught on to the way he looked at the girl (not like he could help it), she would have a full on meltdown and he'd be the one to suffer the consequences.

"Good to see you brother," Damon forced a smile towards Stefan who nodded back at him.

"Uh, this is my friend Elena," Stefan smiled gesturing to the brunette still seated who's eyes widened when she realized he was introducing her. She had spotted Damon the second he walked in and forcefully kept her attention averted from him, but now she'd come to find out that he was Stefan's brother! Seriously?

"I know," Damon found himself saying and he immediately regretted it. "Uh hope you're not texting and walking again," he joked trying to lighten the mood before instantly regretting that line too. This was hell. He'd never had issues talking to people before, especially girls.

"The phone is safely in my purse and I'm keeping my eyes up from now on," Elena blushed nervously as she offered him a small smile.

"You two know each other?" Stefan asked looking between Elena and his brother slightly puzzled.

"I'm in his class," Elena smiled anxiously at Stefan. She conveniently left out the fact that they'd met at the party the weekend before. Their moment when he walked her to her car was definitely not forgotten, but Stefan didn't need to know that, and Damon's fiancé definitely didn't either.

"Ah so are you a freshman?" Katherine asked raising an eyebrow at the young girl who found herself nodding in response as her cheeks turned pink from Katherine's judgmental glare. "I hated psychology when I was in college, but they make you take it as a General Ed. Requirement. It totally blows," Katherine rolled her eyes and Elena immediately disliked the woman. Who criticizes their future husband's life work in front of one of his students?

"I'm a psychology major actually," Elena smiled politely as she felt her skin heat up. "I think it's really interesting."

"Sounds like we've got a teachers pet in our midst," Katherine smirked devilishly at Elena who's face turned straight crimson. Stefan set his hand on her back encouragingly for a moment because he could sense her discomfort and Damon immediately felt the need to slap it away, but he resisted.

"Well if I remember correctly you never liked anything that required you to think at all Kat," Damon commented dryly as he sent a pointed look at his extremely rude fiancé who scoffed back at him. Elena couldn't help but smirk slightly at his words and he smirked back at her, winking discreetly, making her heart rate amplify.

He really wasn't trying to be flirtatious, he joked with his students like this all the time and he wanted to come to Elena's defense somehow, she didn't deserve to be insulted, but with Elena even the innocent things he did felt dirty or wrong. The lines were suddenly blurring and he couldn't tell what was normal and what came from his developing feelings for the girl.

"Ugh that stupid hostess gave me a hard time when I tried to tell her that I made a reservation and it took her like 10 minutes to realize she'd put down the wrong name," Caroline huffed as she walked towards Stefan and Elena before realizing there was extra company. "Uhm hi Professor Salvatore," she smiled anxiously as her eyes darted between her psychology professor and the brunette attached to his arm who she swore she'd seen before she just couldn't remember where.

"Uh Caroline is in my class too," Elena added smiling at Stefan who nodded in understanding.

"Katherine table for two," the hostess called out interrupting the awkward group, to all of their relief.

"Well it was good to see you brother," Damon waved goodbye to Stefan before smiling politely at his students and turning around with Katherine so they could sit down.

Elena swore she saw him turn around and look at her before walking away, but she couldn't be sure. Either way, that was one of the more awkward moments she'd ever experienced and she really wished she could punch Katherine right in the middle of that pretty little reconstructed face of hers. That woman was the epitome of an evil bitch. Why the hell would Damon give a woman like that the time of day in the first place?

"Elena," Stefan called trying to get her attention snapping her out of her jumbled thoughts. "Our table's ready."

"Oh sorry," Elena smiled sheepishly as she stood up.

As they followed the hostess to their table Elena found herself feeling disappointed that she hadn't spotted _him_ again, but then again keeping her distance would help keep her anxiety at bay considering what a colossal fool she'd made out of herself all night. At this point even if Stefan ever did have feelings for her they'd have to be out the window, which she didn't mind, but still she didn't want him thinking she was an idiot.

"Professor Salvatore's girlfriend looks so familiar and I just can't figure out why," Caroline mused once they all sat down. "She's not from Mystic Falls is she Elena? Or maybe cheer camp or something?"

"Not that I know of," Elena shrugged as she picked up her menu resisting the urge to scowl at the mention of the woman's name. She knew she was being petty, but she didn't care.

"She's done a lot of modeling you might recognize her from that," Stefan commented smiling up at Caroline as a look of realization crossed her face.

"That's it!" She squealed. "Katherine Pierce the model! Holy crap, how did Salvatore score that one? I mean, granted he's gorgeous, but I'm just surprised a model would date a professor, the two don't really go together."

"They've known each other since high school," Stefan chuckled at Caroline's craziness while Elena frowned into her menu. When she looked up she noticed the way Stefan's eyes lingered on her best friend both amused and slightly awestruck. Maybe this double date wouldn't be such a waste after all, even if Caroline would end up switching guys by the end of the night.

"Aren't they engaged?" Jesse asked piping in for the first time since they'd arrived.

"Yeah, but I honestly think it's more of a title than a promise for anything," Stefan replied rolling his eyes. "They've been engaged for almost two years and haven't even discussed the wedding. They've been on and off since they were teenagers, they've got a lot of history I guess. I don't get it though, they have way too much drama, plus she's always hitting on me when he isn't around. It's super creepy."

"Wait, she's engaged to your brother and openly hits on you?" Elena asked him in disgust. "Who does that?" What she really couldn't believe was that any woman lucky enough to score herself a man like Damon Salvatore would ever jeopardize it.

"She's a real piece of work," Stefan shrugged sipping his water and the conversation seemed to end there. Elena had millions of questions, but she didn't want raise suspicions by asking. The knowledge that his fiancé wasn't a very good person made Elena happier than she cared to admit and give her a little glimmer of hope that she knew was a complete waste of time. Still, those insecurities that had risen when her Google search had revealed that the man of her dreams had a beautiful fiancé were put to rest when she realized he obviously wasn't very happy with her.

"Lena do you want to split an appetizer?" Caroline asked pulling Elena from her thoughts and she nodded as they both looked over the menu.

As the night continued Caroline and Stefan bonded even more, making Elena and Jesse feel more like third wheels than equal partners in the double date. Elena could tell right off the bat that Jesse was definitely not the right guy for Caroline. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought about it earlier, but Stefan and Caroline are kind of perfect for each other. He was very calm and a good listener, which was just what Caroline needed, but he also had a snarky fun side to him that she seemed to bring out.

By the time they were done eating Elena was watching happily as her best friend flirted with the younger Salvatore brother while Jesse kept himself distracted with something on his iPhone.

"But they live underground and eat nothing but pizza," Caroline huffed looking at Stefan in amusement. "That's not heroic it's pathetic."

"I'm sorry, but you can't honestly expect me to agree that Totally Spies was a better show than Ninja Turtles," Stefan chuckled and Caroline rolled her eyes as a blush crossed her cheeks.

"Are we really arguing about this?" Jesse asked looking between the two with a light scowl on his face just as the waitress brought over the check.

"I got this," Stefan smiled at the table as he reached into his pocket for his wallet.

"Oh no, you really don't have to do that Stefan," Elena smiled pulling her purse out, but he stopped her.

"Don't worry it's my dad's money and he expects me to spend it so the least I can do is buy you guys dinner," he smirked and Elena gave up setting her purse back down.

After the check was paid they all walked out into the cool night air towards Jesse's car and Caroline quietly asked Elena if she'd sit in the back with her. It was safe to say that the Jesse/Caroline ship was never going to set sail so Elena nodded and made sure to give Stefan a signal that he'd be sitting up front.

As they drove towards home Elena rested her head against the cool glass of the window and smiled. She was happy that Caroline had clicked with Stefan. He was a nice guy with a bright future and they were right for each other. She wished she could find that for herself. She wanted to fall in love; she wanted a passionate adventurous relationship with a real man, someone who would consume her. What she wanted was Damon Salvatore.

* * *

><p>Damon closed the front door behind him with a loud thud as he followed Katherine further into the apartment. They'd hardly spoken to each other throughout dinner or during the car ride home. He was pissed. She was pissed. The usual.<p>

"You're overreacting," she commented dryly as he followed her into their bedroom.

"Oh you don't want to see me overreacting Kat," Damon replied coldly. "What the hell is your problem? You really are a bitch, making comments like that to one of my students, really? Every ounce of respect that girl had for me just flew out the window so thank you for that."

"Oh you're kidding right?" She asked him in disbelief. "I'm not an idiot, Damon. Didn't you see the way she looked at you?"

"Uh no, she looked at me the same way anyone else would," Damon responded crossing his arms over his chest. He hadn't noticed Elena looking at him any differently than anyone else would. She'd looked nervous and definitely uncomfortable, but most people did when they ran into teachers outside of class.

Granted they had a connection, but she wasn't some flirtatious floozy that openly gawked at him. She was shy and reserved. She did blush around him a lot though, but then again most girls did so it really wasn't all that strange.

"Now that's just not true," she scoffed before devilishly smirking at her fiancé. "She looked at you like you hung the moon and you were loving every second of it. I'm not blind, and I know women. Trust me, the last thing you should be worrying about is her respecting you. What you should be worried about is the massive law suit you're going to have on your hands."

"A lawsuit?" He asked in disbelief. "Why would I be worried about that?"

"I don't know Damon, you tell me," she responded curtly.

"Are you accusing me of something?" He scoffed as he looked at her both confused and shocked that she would really say something like that. They'd fought millions of times throughout the course of their dramatic relationship, but she'd never accused him of something like this before.

"I don't know, Damon. Should I be?"

"Stop answering my questions with more questions Kat," he shouted angrily. "What are you implying with all this? Because I'm a little lost."

"Fine," she narrowed her eyes as she took a step towards him. "I'm implying that you have a thing for one of your students. You like her. Hell, for all I know you two are already carrying on behind my back."

"I wouldn't cheat on you," Damon frowned running a hand through his now ragged hair. It was the truth. Even if he had a lingering attraction towards Elena he wasn't a cheater and he wouldn't get involved with a student anyways.

"Maybe not physically," Katherine replied abruptly," but there is such a thing as an emotional affair, and you didn't deny that you had a thing for her; all you denied was the cheating. You just gave yourself up. I thought you were a psychologist, isn't deflecting a thing? Because I think you're guilty of it."

"I'm not having any kind of affair Kat. Emotional or physical. She looks at me the same way all of my other students do, and she's a freshman, whose maybe a little intimidated by me, but that's it. If you can't handle the fact that I have students that look up to me then I don't know what to tell you."

"It's more than that and you know it," Katherine responded storming into their shared closet to grab a nightgown before walking back out to face him. "By this time next year your picture will probably be plastered all over the news for a sex scandal!"

"Oh screw you, Katherine," Damon scoffed pushing past her to grab his suitcase from the top shelf of their closet. He grabbed a few things from hangers and tossed them into the bag before moving to the bathroom to grab some toiletries as Katherine watched him puzzled.

"Where are you going?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest once he'd walked back into the bedroom.

"Away from this house of horrors," he frowned walking out of their bedroom and grabbing his keys off the counter slamming the door behind him as he walked down to his car.

As he tossed his bag in the back of his car and angrily started the ignition he felt a pang of guilt run through him. He did have feelings for Elena, he knew he did. Katherine wasn't completely wrong, but her accusations were also ridiculous and extremely hypocritical. She was in situations like that constantly and he'd never gone after her the way she went after him.

Twenty minutes later Alaric opened his front door to a sight he'd seen hundreds of times and he chuckled before motioning for Damon to come inside. At this point him and Meredith should've just renamed the guest room to Damon's room, he spent enough time in it. Hell, the guy had his own toothbrush in the bathroom.

"What happened this time?" He asked, pouring Damon a glass of bourbon and handing it to him as he sat down on the sofa.

"I don't want to talk about it," Damon replied, downing the contents of the glass in one gulp before pouring himself another. Alaric was his best friend, but this just wasn't something he could discuss with him.

"You know most healthy relationships don't exactly model themselves after yours," Meredith commented as she walked into the living room and raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Remind me again why you haven't dumped the witch yet?"

"Can we please not focus on my relationship problems?" Damon scowled, downing the rest of his second glass. "I have a splitting headache so do you have anything I can take for it?"

"There's Excedrin on the desk in the office," Alaric shrugged taking a seat on the couch. "I get headaches when I grade shitty papers."

"Thanks," Damon stood before walking down the familiar hallway and into Alaric and Meredith's shared home office. He found the bottle sitting next to a box of pens and went to grab it, but his eyes wandered to a pile of folders off to the left and on a specific name towards the top. Elena Gilbert. Curiosity got the better of him, and Damon quietly moved to grab it before he was interrupted by an angry Meredith glaring at him from the doorway.

"Being nosey?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"I saw one of my students names and wondered why it was on a folder with Alaric's stuff that's all," Damon shrugged, feigning nonchalance, grabbing the pill bottle and walking towards the door.

"Those folders are my patient's files and you opening them is illegal so stay away," Meredith warned giving him a good-natured punch in the arm and walking back into the kitchen. Damon muttered an unapologetic 'sorry' before rolling his eyes so she wouldn't see and walking in the opposite direction towards Alaric.

"Your wife has a mean punch," Damon frowned, rubbing his arm as he walked back into the living room.

"Don't I know it," Alaric chuckled flipping on the television so they could watch a hockey game that Damon wasn't really paying much attention to. He couldn't help but wonder why Elena was a patient of Meredith's. Alaric's wife was a psychiatrist who helped people with fairly severe issues who usually went through some kind of intense trauma. If Elena had a file, and a pretty thick one at that, then she obviously had some pretty intense stuff going on. So what was Elena Gilbert's secret?

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Hopefully this gave you a little more background into Damon and Katherine (don't fret there will be a lot more this just barely scratched the surface), and we are going to go in the Steroline direction! I hope you're happy about that because I just adore them. Anyways, click those FavoriteFollow buttons and review your little behinds off, pretty please with a cherry on top :)**

**Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 4: Maybe

**Hello lovelies! So I want to start off my apologizing for how long it took me to get this out to you. I actually tried to post a few weeks ago and fanfiction was NOT cooperating. This time of year is just crazy for me between holiday madness and family and friends coming to town so I really am sorry. I promise to never keep you waiting so long again, barring something dreadful of course lol. Anyways, thanks again for your reviews and feedback. I am trying to respond to as many as I can, but sometimes it's a struggle so if you didn't get a response this time around I'm terribly sorry, but just know I read every single one and they all mean so much to me. Please favorite/follow and continue leaving me your reviews. I can't tell you how much I appreciate them and how much they inspire me to keep on going. Enjoy :)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: <strong>

**Maybe**

_Maybe, I know it's just maybe_

_And we're only dreaming_

_For how this will go_

_But maybe, one day this daydream_

_Will turn into real things_

_For all that we know_

**August 28, 2010**

"So how have the nightmares been going?" Dr. Fell asked as she took a sip from her coffee mug during their Saturday afternoon session. Elena was liking her new therapist even more than she expected, especially because she never pressed her for information. They mostly just talked about her life, and Elena was relieved not to rehash everything that happened last May.

"I still get them most nights," Elena frowned, looking down at her hands. "It's always the same. I'm trapped in the water and no matter what I do I can't get free. Sometimes I lay asleep and feel like I can't move or breath, and I try so hard to wake up, but I can't."

"Sleep paralysis can be frightening," Dr. Fell nodded writing something down in her notes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Elena answered honestly. She hated talking about her nightmares, it was embarrassing and it made her feel like a child afraid of monsters under the bed. "It makes me nervous to talk about them."

"Okay, well how about school? How are your classes going?"

"Pretty good," Elena shrugged as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I really like my psychology class." She felt her cheeks heat up as she thought about Damon and she prayed Dr. Fell wouldn't notice. The last thing she wanted her therapist to know was that she had a ginormous crush on her teacher.

"It's a pretty interesting subject," Dr. Fell nodded, writing something down on her clipboard. "Though I am a bit bias I suppose. What about your social life?"

"Well I went on a double date Thursday night," she laughed and shook her head when she though about that colossal failure of a night. "I didn't like the guy though, my friend set it up, and by the end of the night she ended up with him. They're going out tonight just the two of them, which is cool. I think they'll be happy together."

"I love how much you care about your friends and family, but you know you're allowed to want happiness for yourself too," Dr. Fell pointed out smiling softly at her.

"I know, I really am trying," Elena sighed fiddling with her bracelet nervously.

"I know, but I think you should do something a little out of your comfort zone," Dr. Fell suggested and just the thought made Elena shudder. "I'm not saying you should do anything crazy, but you're in college, it's time to find new interests and meet new people. Caroline is still your roommate and from what I understand your friendship is strong, but there's no harm in branching out a little. How about joining a club?"

"I don't really know what kind of club I could join," Elena shrugged, biting her lip anxiously. "In high school I was a cheerleader, but I mostly just did it because it made my mom happy and it was a good way to be popular in high school." Elena rolled her eyes at the last part, that part of her life felt like ages ago rather than just 4 months.

"Whitmore has a psychology club," Dr. Fell suggested. "I was actually in it and it was a lot of fun, plus it looks great on resumes or applications for job and it's really helpful if you plan on applying to Grad School. It'll give you a chance to meet the people you'll most likely end up spending most of your time with as you get more involved with the program, and it's a great way to make friends. I'm just saying, it's a great program and I think you'd enjoy it. Your homework before our next session is to look into it. Do you think you can do that?"

"I can do that," Elena nodded as she continued anxiously fiddling with her bracelet. Being social and putting herself out there never used to be something she feared, but after everything that happened and her time in the hospital her social skills were seriously lacking. Maybe she could convince Caroline to help her…

Later that night Elena sat in her dorm room alone, waiting for her friend to get home from her date with Stefan. She worked on some homework, tried watching television, and reorganized the refrigerator twice until she heard voices from the other side of the door. She didn't want to snoop, so instead she just sat down on her bed and waited for the door to open. With one more whispered sigh and a kiss, Caroline came flouncing in the room, the smile on her face wide as can be.

"Someone had a good time," Elena smiled back, the look on her best friend's face nearly contagious.

"Someone just went on the single greatest first date in the history of time," Caroline laughed dreamily as she sat on her bed to take her heels off.

"Details!" Elena exclaimed, joining her friend on the opposite bed.

"He took me to dinner at this amazing sushi place downtown," she grinned widely. "I told him I didn't really have much experience with the real stuff so he ordered me like half the menu to try and share."

"Wow," Elena breathed, her eyes wide. "That's kind of ridiculous, but in a romantic sort of way."

"He was just so sweet," Caroline continued, taking off her earrings. "It's obvious he has money, but he didn't brag about it. He told me a little about his family and asked me questions about Mystic Falls and stuff. His dad is some hotshot attorney in New York and he's really close with both of his parents, especially his mom. We just talked, and we clicked like crazy."

"I'm really happy for you, Care," Elena squeezed her arm encouragingly and resisted the urge to ask if he'd said anything about his brother. If he had there's no doubt Caroline would've been eager to share the gossip, considering he was their professor. "And to think, you tried to set me up with him! I knew Jesse wasn't your type."

"No, he wasn't," she smiled shyly, shaking her head back and forth. "I was attracted to Stefan too, but I guess after Tyler I wanted to try something different. Stefan seemed like someone I would typically date, but Jesse was like the total opposite and I wanted to give something new a chance. I guess it was stupid."

"It's not stupid," Elena told her back. "I know college is about expanding horizons and all that, but that doesn't mean that the stuff we liked before is suddenly out of the picture. You have a type, there's nothing wrong with that. Stefan is nice and he makes you happy, that's all that matters."

"I know," the blonde smiled back at her friend. "So what's new with you? We haven't really talked much today."

"Nothing really," Elena shrugged. "Dr. Fell thinks I should join the psychology club, branch out and all that."

"I think it's a great idea," Caroline smiled excitedly at her. "Lena, you should meet new people, I've met some really cool people in my theater classes. Plus I want to go out for the play, which is super time consuming, so I think you should find your own thing. Kind of like your own little niche."

"Yeah, but I'm kind of nervous," she admitted anxiously. "I'm not good at the whole social thing anymore, would you help me?"

"Sure! You can go by tomorrow morning before class and I'll go with you," Caroline assured her and Elena smiled gratefully. Caroline was like a Godsend. She honestly didn't know she would do without her.

That night was nightmare free, thankfully. Instead she dreamt about blue eyes and pale skin, the way it would feel molded against her own. She didn't know what was worse. In all honesty, these inappropriate _intimate_ dreams about her teacher were far more difficult to recover from than the nightmares.

"Okay so according to the website the psych club's president has an office in the building where our class is," Caroline mumbled as she looked at the club's website on her phone while they walked towards their class Monday morning.

"Room 135," Elena recalled from when she checked online this morning before they left. The girls entered the building and continued down the hallway before making a right along a corridor lined with doors. It looked like faculty offices, so they continued until they found the room they were looking for and Elena knocked lightly.

She could here someone shuffling around inside for a moment before the door opened and a young gorgeous dark-skinned girl smiled at her. She was beautiful, her short hair landing stylishly above her shoulders, her hazel eyes shimmering, all in contrast with her cocoa brown skin.

"Can I help you?" She asked with a sweet smile and Elena immediately took a liking to her. She seemed friendly.

"Uh yeah, I was hoping to join the psychology club and the website told me to come here," Elena smiled anxiously and the girl nodded gesturing for her to follow her inside. The office was small, obviously this girl wasn't a teacher so she probably didn't get the best pick, but it was cozy. There were a lot of photos lining the walls and shelves, most of them of larger groups.

"I'm Bonnie, I'm actually the president so I can sign your application right now before sending it home for you to fill out," she told Elena as she handed her a stack of papers from her desk excitedly. "So what's your name?"

"Elena," she smiled politely shaking her hand and she grinned at her.

"Well I'm glad you want to join I think you'll really like it," she told Elena excitedly. "You'll have to get that signed by your current psychology professor, it's to make sure we only have serious people wanting to join. As long as you're not failing or causing issues professors always sign it with no problems so you don't have to worry, honestly it's just a formality. Who's your professor?"

"Uh I have Da-Professor Salvatore," Elena smiled trying with everything she had not to blush like she _always_ did when she thought about him.

"Oh Mr. S. is the best," Bonnie grinned with a shimmer in her eyes, not noticing the small stumble Elena made when saying his name. "I've taken 4 classes with him, he's a great teacher, you're lucky! He's actually our new faculty advisor for the semester so you'll be seeing him at all of our meetings and events and everything, but he's really cool. You can just go to his office hours and leave your application with him once he signs it, I have to give them all to him anyways."

"Okay thank you," Elena responded smiling politely and she smiled back with a no problem before Elena met Caroline back in the hallway so they could walk to class together.

"Everything good?" Caroline asked as they walked towards their class and Elena nodded forcing a smile.

Of course Professor Salvatore was the teacher in charge of the Psychology Club, because wouldn't it just be way too easy if he wasn't? Her life wasn't allowed to be simple anymore, apparently, so she knew she shouldn't be surprised. Maybe it would help her with her willpower skills, which she knew was doubtful, but hey a girl could dream.

As she entered the now familiar lecture hall she spotted him standing at his usual spot in the front of the classroom flipping through a stack of papers. He looked up and smiled at her, which made her heart beat about a million times faster. As he began the lecture she couldn't help but notice the way his gaze shifted to her so often, and apart of her wondered if it was just her imagination. Just her way of trying to convince herself that maybe quite possibly he felt that connection between them like she did.

He knew he was treading into deep waters, but as more time went by he found it increasingly more difficult to reign in his feelings for this girl. She was beautiful, she made something in his chest constrict whenever he saw her, and there was undoubtedly something between them. It was something he never felt with anyone before, not even Katherine, and that thought scared him even more.

"I need all of you to make sure that you're doing this in APA format, not MLA. Every year at least 5 people get the two confused for the first paper so don't be one of those people. Maybe if the whole class accomplishes this you'll get a prize," Damon waggled his eyebrows and the class laughed. "Seriously though, there's an in depth description for how to do APA on my website, plus there's tons of other websites online that'll break it down for you. It really isn't that hard and it's an automatic 30 point deduction if you don't, which means the highest grade you could get would be a C, and that's if you did everything else perfect, which I doubt. Anyways, you have until Wednesday of _next_ week, and good luck. I'll try and go easy on you since it's the first one. I'll see you guys on Wednesday."

Damon watched as the class shuffled out of their seats and his eyes landed on Elena Gilbert yet again. She had on a coral tank top and shorts that accentuated those long legs of her that he'd spent more time fantasizing about than he'd care to admit. _Look away and don't go there,_ he thought forcing his eyes onto his desk and busying himself with the papers for his next class.

"Ugh we've barely been here a week and we already have a paper," Caroline mumbled as her and Elena got their books together. "I thought that he was supposed to be one of the cool teachers."

"He is Care, but we're in college the workload is bigger now," Elena rolled her eyes as she slung her messenger bag over her shoulder.

"Ugh you're just not complaining because you have a crush on him," Caroline teased and Elena stiffened. While she had only been joking, there was a small part of Caroline that wondered if Elena had a thing for their professor, but she couldn't blame her. The guy was pretty gorgeous. Plus, everyone crushed on one of their teachers at some point in their life; it was perfectly normal.

"I do not," Elena replied defensively.

"Oh please, I mean I doubt you're the only one," Caroline whispered as they reached the bottom of the lecture hall. "I would be crushing on him too if I wasn't seeing his brother. That would just create a whole weird torn between two brothers thing and I'm not really into love triangles."

"Sometimes I wonder why I'm friends with you," Elena giggled as they exited the classroom.

"Oh please, you know you love me," she winked before waving goodbye and hurrying off to her next class.

Elena had a few hours to kill before her English class so she headed towards the coffee shop to get a smoothie and seated herself at one of the shaded tables nearby. For the first time in as long as she could remember her life was easy again. Things were simple. She went to class, did her homework, hung out with Caroline, and she loved her new psychiatrist. Everything was great, well almost everything. She still couldn't get her psychology professor out of her head. She tried so hard, she really did. She had no intentions of acting on these newfound feelings, obviously, but that didn't change the fact that they were there.

She'd read articles or seen stories on the news about teachers who got involved with students, now granted most of the scandalous ones involved underage girls, which was a category she didn't fall under, but in the end she knew she would never end up as one of those people. Those were the kinds of girls she would've pitied or laughed at. Who would be stupid enough to sleep with their teacher? She knew that most of the time it involved a perverted older man who took advantage of the girls who were loose with their morals, and her and Professor Salvatore didn't fit into either of those categories. That's what made it so complicated.

"Hey Elena," Stefan smiled interrupting her thoughts as he took a seat across from her. "You look kind of upset, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just thinking too much," she shrugged forcing a smile. "What's up?"

"Well I've been meaning to talk to you away from Caroline, do you have a minute?"

"Yeah my next class doesn't start for a while," she shrugged taking a sip from her drink. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, everything's good. I was just wondering if either of you made plans for her birthday. I know it's coming up in a few weeks and even though things are pretty new with us I wanted to do something for her. You know her better than I do so I was wondering if you had any suggestions."

"Well, Care is really into birthdays so if you want to get in her good graces you should do something," Elena smiled as she thought back to all the birthdays her and Caroline shared over the years. "For her sweet 16 she rented out the entire town square and since this is her 18th she'll probably want to do something special. I know she really likes you, so maybe if you took her to a nice dinner and did something romantic I think she'd really like it. I mean, she's over the top, but she also recognizes it when people put in the effort and that's what matters most to her."

"So dinner at a fancy restaurant?" He asked curiously. "My mom is kind of a genius when it comes to gift giving so I figured I'd enlist her help and double check with you before I make any decisions."

"Definitely," Elena nodded fighting back a grin at how whipped this boy was and he'd just barely started seeing her friend. When you know, you know, apparently. She could see how smitten Stefan was with her best friend and he was clearly a romantic at heart, just like Caroline. It was a match made in heaven.

"I'm not taking away from any of your plans am I?" He asked cautiously. "Because I know how important your friendship is, she mentioned you being the closest thing she had to a sister, and the last thing I want to do is get in the middle of a tradition or something."

"No I was just going to get her a gift and decorate our dorm," Elena shrugged nonchalantly. "Her dad will probably come into town a few days before and take her shopping or something, but if you planned something she'd be thrilled. She really likes you, and even just putting a little effort into it will make her happy. Most guys don't really know how to do this kind of stuff so the fact that you're even bringing it up means you're on the right track."

"I really like her too," Stefan admitted with a slight blush on his cheeks that Elena noticed, but chose not to comment on. "Anyways, I gotta get to class, but thank you for this. I'll text you when I find potential gifts."

"Sounds good," Elena replied before waving goodbye and watching him walk across the courtyard. She was happy that Caroline had found a guy like Stefan. He treated her the way she deserved to be treated, and after the drama filled relationship she had with Tyler Lockwood back in Mystic Falls, Caroline deserved a guy who made her feel like a princess. Not that Tyler was all that bad; they were just immature teenagers trying to figure everything out, but she didn't want to spend her college years constantly consoling her best friend over boy problems. She'd done enough of that when they were growing up.

When they were little they used to spend almost every Saturday playing wedding on the front lawn of whoever's house they were at for the day, and they would take turns being the bride and groom. They would make up elaborate stories about who their groom was and gush about how amazing it would be if any of their wishes actually came true. Granted, Stefan wasn't a wealthy prince who lived in a castle made of candy, and yes that was one of Caroline's fantasies, but Stefan was about as close as one could get to Prince Charming out here in the real world. It was too bad Elena's real world Prince Charming happened to be her much older - engaged to be married to a super model-psychology professor. Life really was a joke sometimes. A sick and twisted joke.

The rest of her day passed by without incident, and around 5:30 pm she found herself standing outside Professor Salvatore's office trying to find the courage to knock. She needed him to sign her application, and Dr. Fell would be disappointed if she showed up to her next appointment without doing her "homework."

It had been a long day. Damon was sitting in his office Monday evening typing away on his laptop creating a study guide for his Psych 225 class when he heard a knock on his door. He was always there for his office hours, but generally the first couple weeks of the semester were pretty dead. It wasn't until papers were handed out and students wanted to grovel for higher grades that things got busy, which usually didn't begin until at least week 4.

"Come in," he called out, shutting his laptop and looking up at the door were a bashful Elena Gilbert entered his office and his eyes widened.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she smiled timidly and he shook his head. He could've been seconds away from finding a cure for the common cold and he wouldn't have cared.

"No, it's office hours this is when I'm supposed to meet with students," he smiled politely and gestured for her to take a seat. "So what's up?"

"Well I spoke with a girl named Bonnie this morning about joining the psychology club and she told me I needed to get my application signed by my teacher."

"Oh, okay I can do that," he grinned and she nodded pulling the papers out of her bag and setting them on his desk. As he flipped through them she shuffled uncomfortably in the leather chair as she let her eyes wander around his office. It was pretty basic. The walls were neutral beige similar to the color of her dorm and the décor was simple. There was a long bookshelf filled with textbooks and psychology reference texts along with a leather sofa along one wall and his diplomas framed in a neat row above it. She also noticed the few framed photographs here and there. Surprisingly she didn't see a single photo of him and Stefan, which she found a little bit odd. Some were with a man that looked a few years older than him; probably a friend, and the others were of him and Katherine.

Of course she'd be pictured in his office, they were getting married, much to Elena's chagrin. The room was decorated nicely; it definitely had a woman's touch. She could imagine his fiancé coming in here with fabric swatches and furniture catalogues, making the bile in her stomach rise. She made sure to keep the look on her face even, but inside she was smoldering with jealousy.

He didn't notice her anger, but he could definitely sense her discomfort. He could also smell her perfume even though she was sitting a few feet away from him and it was intoxicating, everything about her was intoxicating. He knew that the easiest way to get over whatever this was between them would be to avoid her at all costs until she wasn't in his class anymore, but now she'd be in his club too.

In general Damon was not a big believer in fate or destiny, but a small apart of him wondered if Elena Gilbert had been sent to him for a reason. It was ludicrous, he knew that, not to mention how dishonorable it was considering the fact that he had a fiancé waiting for him at home, but it didn't stop him from wondering.

"I can hold onto this for you," he told her once he was finished. "Bonnie has to bring all the applications to me anyways so it'll save you a trip. How's everything else going for you? I hope you're liking the class."

"I like it a lot," she smiled as a light blush crossed her cheeks; she hoped he didn't notice, but he definitely did and he loved it. He could tell she was a little smitten by him, which was actually a relief considering how incredibly smitten he was by her. He wanted to know her, truly know her. She was beautiful and interesting; different from anyone else he'd ever met before. The emptiness and fear in her eyes was still there, and he still wanted to find out everything about her, he wanted to make the emptiness go away. Even if he had to crawl inside of her brain to fix it, he would, and he didn't know why he even cared so much. It wasn't his place, for all he knew she had a boyfriend and was also unavailable. Hell, she'd clearly been out with his brother the past weekend, much to his annoyance. He knew it was extremely inappropriate to breach the subject, but he just had to know if she was dating his brother. He'd been losing sleep over it. Even if she was there really wasn't much he could do about it, it wasn't his place, but he had to know.

"I'm glad," he smiled politely, deciding the best way to bring it up and get an answer out of her. "Just let me know if you need anything, you are my brother's girlfriend after all." He chuckled awkwardly and watched as her eyes widened and her face turned beat red.

"Th-thank you, but I'm not dating Stefan," she rushed the words out so quickly he almost couldn't understand her, but he was able to figure out what she meant to say. He sighed in relief and felt his pulse slow down.

"Sorry, I just saw you at the restaurant and assumed," he grinned not even attempting to hide his happiness. He already knew he was going to hell in a handbag. He might as well make it worth his while.

"No we are definitely not dating," she stressed the words trying to get the point across. God, that was the last thing she'd ever want him to think. The only person she would even want to date was sitting across from her in a large oak desk that reeked of power and control. Because he was her teacher. _Get it together Elena_, she told herself. "He's seeing my roommate right now, actually. They seem to be really happy together."

"I see," he nodded, trying not to let his relief show through too much. "I didn't mean to imply anything, Stefan and I aren't exactly close so I don't really know what's going on in his life."

"You guys don't look alike at all," she rushed the words out and blushed again. It had been plaguing her ever since that disastrous double date when she found out they were brothers. They looked nothing alike and it confused her a little bit. They were so formal with each other, nothing like normal siblings. Plus, as she'd already noticed, there weren't any photos of him around the office either. Her and Jeremy had never been that way, like any siblings that grew up down the hall from each other they were comfortable. Damon and Stefan were nothing like that, from what she saw.

"I know, people say that all the time," he shrugged smiling kindly at her, but he didn't want to offer her any more information. That would require his sob story and he really didn't want to get into that right now. He was already crossing professional lines with this girl, but telling her about his complicated past would only be crossing that line even further.

"Right, well thank you Professor Salvatore," she nodded, standing up from the leather arm-chair. He frowned inwardly at the use of his professional name rather than his first one. She had obviously adapted to their teacher/student relationship, and if he was being honest with himself he absolutely hated it. He loved the way she'd said his name that first night they met, all he could do was imagine how it would sound from her lips when he was inside her.

Fuck.

No.

"It's no problem," he forced a grin as he stood up along with her. "When your application gets accepted Bonnie will email you about the first meeting."

"Thanks again," she smiled before hurrying out the door. She turned a corner towards an empty hallway and leaned against the wall for a moment, trying to collect her bearings. She'd been in his office for about 10 minutes, but it had resulted in heart palpitations and an ache between her legs that she couldn't ignore if she tried. At this point it wasn't even a question anymore, Elena Gilbert was screwed, and well, she kind of wanted to be as long as Damon Salvatore was the one doing it.

* * *

><p>"Way to be on time ass hole," Ric scowled as Damon strolled into their usual bar and took a seat next to his best friend.<p>

"Sorry, I was in the middle of something," Damon shrugged and Ric nodded as he took a sip from his whisky. After Elena has left his office he spent a half hour staring at the wall and contemplating his dilemma, which was a waste of time because he still had absolutely no idea what he was going to do. He loved Katherine; he really did, but Elena…

"How you doin' darlin?" Bree asked, interrupting his thoughts and setting a glass of Damon's usual bourbon in front of him. Him and Ric had been coming here since they'd discovered the little hole in the wall in their Grad School days, and they knew the owner Bree extremely well. She was a middle aged African American woman who could charm her way into the heart of just about anyone, and she took a great amount of pride in her little run down bar. She was part bartender part therapist when it came to her usual customers; most people who came here often had a fair set of problems on their plate.

"Well enough to need at least three more of these tonight," Damon frowned as he took a sip from his drink and relished in the feeling of the burn as it went down his throat.

"Fiancé drama," Ric explained and Bree nodded understandingly as she rolled her eyes and moved to take orders from a group of college kids that had just strolled in. Damon had spent his weekend sleeping in Alaric and Meredith's guest room, but he returned to his place Sunday evening where he was met with a very angry Katherine. They fought again, lots of yelling, a few broken vases, and now they'd resigned to their fate of ignoring each other and sleeping as far apart as possible in their king sized bed.

"Look, I usually keep my mouth closed when it comes to your Katherine drama, but this is getting ridiculous," Ric sighed as he looked up at his friend. "You guys aren't even married yet and you have one of the worst relationships I've ever seen. You make each other miserable more often than you make each other happy. It isn't supposed to be that way. Half the time you act like you hate each other."

"Well gee Ric thanks for sugar coating it," Damon deadpanned, taking another sip from his drink.

"Believe me Damon that was sugar coating it," Ric continued and Damon looked down at the amber liquid in his glass as he prepared for the lecture he was about to receive. "She's a bitch, Damon. She is caddy and rude and selfish and she treats you like shit. You asked her to marry you like two years ago and you two haven't even discussed the wedding. It's obvious neither one of you are in much of a rush to get to the altar and make it permanent. That's not normal. When I proposed to Mer we both spent 4 months dying of anticipation. You propose because you want to get married. You guys don't even mention the wedding. It's like you're permanent fiancés or something. When I made the decision to marry Meredith I was excited about her being my wife. We wanted the marriage, that's what you're supposed to want."

"You and Mer are like a couple of nauseating fucking teenagers it's not even normal," he frowned, but Ric didn't even flinch.

"She also has no appreciation for your work," he continued like Damon hadn't spoken. "She goes out and parties like she's still in college, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was two-timing with one of those sleazy photographers or agents she's always hanging around with. You're my best friend, and I can't keep letting you destroy your life like this. She doesn't make you happy anymore."

"I know," Damon whispered as he gripped the edge of his glass. Everything Ric said was right, and Damon knew it. He didn't even need Ric to say it, but Katherine had been such a big part of his life, it wasn't like he could just break up with her. She was the only woman he'd ever loved, and he'd fallen for her almost instantly when he met her during his freshman year of high school. She was his first everything, and he wasn't sure he was ready to give that up. They'd broken up at least 5 times since then, and he'd been with his fair share of other women, but she was the only stable girlfriend he ever had and in the end he always went back to her. If he ended things would it be any different this time around?

"You two look like you just saw someone murder a puppy," Meredith commented as she came towards them and kissed her husband tenderly before taking a seat at the bar.

"They're discussing poor Damon's love life," Bree smirked setting a gin martini down in front of Meredith.

"You really do need to end things with Medusa," Meredith scowled as she took a sip from her drink, but Damon didn't respond. He'd had this conversation too many times to count and he was sick of it. He didn't fault his friends for their concern and he understood Meredith's dislike for Katherine, but hearing the same thing over and over again was getting a little old. He knew fine well how they felt about her; he didn't need them constantly reminding him.

It was late when he finally unlocked the front door and was met with an empty apartment. The bathroom counter was flooded with makeup and hair supplies and dresses were strewn about the bedroom signaling a night out for Katherine. He didn't even feel the need to clean it up, he was just done. Done with all of it.

He took off his clothes from the day until he was left in his boxer shorts and climbed into bed, his mind drifting to Elena Gilbert as it often did. He wanted her, and instead of the problem resolving itself like he had thought it would it was only getting worse. It was only the second week of school; he'd have to endure an entire semester with her in his class, not to mention the Psychology Club.

"Fuck!" He groaned rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling. He'd be seeing a lot more of Elena Gilbert, and what made it even worse was the fact that despite all the reasons it knew he shouldn't, it excited him. The prospect of seeing her outside of class made him giddy, even if he knew it could never be.


End file.
